


It All Goes Back To Bowlby

by professional_benaddict, Truff



Series: IAGBTB au [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Ageplay, And I mean Really Slow Burn, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Daddy Kink, Daddy Tony, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hand Jobs, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Little Peter, Making Out, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Non-Sexual Ageplay, Nurse Bucky Barnes, Nurse Steve Rogers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sick Character, Sickfic, Slow Burn, Smut, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2019-11-07 15:14:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 100
Words: 352,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17962973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professional_benaddict/pseuds/professional_benaddict, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Truff/pseuds/Truff
Summary: It all goes back to Bowlby and classical attachment. The Parker boy is clearly one with avoidant attachment, making him fall into category A of Ainsworth’s attachment classification system. The psychiatrist notes this all down. Usually he would be more careful with labelling his patients so early on in the treatment process, but he feels quite confident with his observation considering the notes from the Parker boy’s two previous therapists. Daddy issues, Daddy issues and some more Daddy issues. Most of the psychiatric field finds it to be lazy psychiatry, but with over 20 years of experience, Tony is more or less convinced. It all goes back to Bowlby.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is a slow burn roleplay-turned-fic between myself and @professional_benaddict. rafni's been the best rp partner and i've loved every moment of chatting to her, and we thought we'd share our creation!
> 
> a quick warning, this fic is heavily, HEAVILY set in a hospital/psychiatric environment, with such themes being prevalent throughout the fic. if you're not comfortable with such themes, we highly suggest you do not read this fic.
> 
> other than that, enjoy!

Peter couldn’t believe this. They weren’t really going to keep him in a room until he spoke to the man sat across from him, did they? Nurses Rogers and Barnes literally had to drag him into the counselling room by the arms, but it didn’t stop him from trying to kick them as best as he could. The kicks didn’t do much, not when he was wearing these stupid velcro’d sneakers, and he was put down on the counselling sofa and told to wait for the psychiatrist to show up. The minute Doctor Stark showed up, Peter’s face shifted into a glare and didn’t move from that expression the whole time they were sat together. ”If you think I’ll talk, spill out my daddy issues or whatever, you’re fucking wrong. I’m not saying shit. This is fucking useless anyway. When can I go home? You can’t keep me here forever.” He spat, looking at the psychiatrist through narrowed eyes.

”You’re correct there, Parker." The doctor answered calmly, settling onto the chair to face his newest patient. "It’s just two weeks of observation. But that is an awfully long time to stay silent, don’t you think? We don’t have to talk about heavy stuff, just whatever you want." He explained further, making a hand gesture towards the boy in front of him. "The bird that you saw out the window, another patient here, what you ate today…”

Peter rolled his eyes, unimpressed, before crossing his arms and settling back against the couch with his shoulders slumped. Maybe it made him look like a moody teenager, but he didn’t give a shit. He turned his head to look over at the door, eyeing it up with the intention of legging it as soon as he could. “I didn’t eat today.” He grumbled, so quiet that it could be easily missed. He was already getting tired of this conversation, and he had only been talking to this doctor for two minutes.

Tony caught onto what the teenager said, even if it was mumbled and spoke more sternly. ”You have to take your meds with food, Peter. You have been informed of what happens if you don’t take them willingly, yes?” The doctor said and briefly glanced down at the boy´s file in his lap and at the long list of medications.

“I know.” Peter said, his leg starting to bounce with irritation. This was stupid, he wasn’t insane! These doctors could keep feeding him pills all they wanted, but he didn’t belong here. His leg got faster and faster until he let out a growl and stamped his foot against the floor. “This is fucking stupid. I don’t give a shit about any of this, so just leave me the fuck alone!” He cried, jumping up from the couch and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He didn’t give a shit about what anyone had to say, he thought to himself as he made his way down the long, clinical hallways of the psychiatric ward. He didn’t belong here. 

With a little sigh, Tony closed the Parker boy´s file in his lap and got up to make notes of their little interaction. Some would call it bad, or even lazy, psychiatric practice to label someone so early on in the treatment process, but Tony knew what he saw. The boy was clearly one with avoidant attachment, making him fall into category A of Ainsworth's classification system. Finishing up his notes, Tony started thinking about their next session.

\---

The next day came, and again Peter had to be forced back into the counselling room by the two nurses, Rogers and Barnes. Although they had deadpan expressions as they carry him in, Peter could tell that the screaming and kicking was slowly getting to them, and he couldn’t help a triumphant grin when they left. However, that smile fell as soon as Doctor Stark arrived. 

After ten minutes of silence, Peter chose to speak. “Is this gonna be a daily thing? Us just sitting here saying nothing?” He asked, his eyes narrowed once more as he looked over the doctor warily. He wondered what the notepad on his lap said about him, but mostly he just wanted to leave.

Tony made a mental note on the boy's skinny frame. He wasn't suffering from an eating disorder, which some doctors would falsely diagnose, but Tony saw that it is most likely connected to something else if the boy's file is anything to go on. “Daily one-on-one sessions are mandatory, yes, but what you decide to spend that time talking about is up to you. Like I said yesterday, we do not have to talk about the hard things just yet. What you did today is more than enough.” Tony explained calmly, again making a gesture to the boy that welcomed him to talk about anything that he wanted.

Peter huffed, hoisting his legs up to cross them on the couch. At the back of his mind, he was mildly aware that the dirt on the bottom of his sneakers from when he went outside would get onto the sofa, but for now he couldn’t find it in him to care. “Well, I woke up, the shitty nurses forced food and drugs down my throat, I went outside and now I’m stuck here.” He recounted, clutching his ankles in his hands with his shoulders hunched forward. He refused to hold eye contact with the doctor, instead choosing to focus on a random point in the top corner of the room, where random piping ran through the walls.

”You went outside. How was the weather?” The doctor asked, and it seemed too casually as the teenager shoots him a look. It’s a quick one, but the following eyeroll is long and bit dramatic. If they had been further in the treatment, Tony would have chuckled, but he keeps his face neutral, but eyes keen as he looks at the teen.

The weather? That had to be some kind of trick question. Peter couldn’t resist glancing at the doctor with a confused look, but then rolled his eyes regardless. He looked behind him, where the sun shone through a window, casting rays of light across the room, and turned back around. “There’s a window right fucking there. Look for yourself.” He grumbled, his eyes dropping to his lap where his hands were placed. He began to fidget, scratching at the back of his hands and picking the threads of the sweatpants he was wearing.

”Well, yes, but I am interested in how you found the weather.” The doctor explained, lifting his brows in an intigued expression in an effort to get the teen to talk, to feel like he was being listened to. Tony knew that the boy had a lot to say, most of which he probably didn’t understand by himself, which was precisely why Tony was sat with him here, to help him understand himself.

Peter could feel the doctor’s eyes on him, even when he was looking down at his lap. It unnerved him a little bit, being watched, but he didn’t make a fuss. Not this time, anyway. He simply shrugged, pulling at a loose thread in his sweatpants. “It’s whatever.” He mumbled, glancing up nervously to see Doctor Stark’s piercing gaze still on him. Peter clasped one hand in the other and began cracking his knuckles - it was something he did fairly often when he was anxious, and he let his thumb push down on each knuckle in his fingers. He fell silent other than that, his gaze dropping back down to the Velcro on his sneakers.

They sat in silence for a long time, which Tony was not bothered about. Most would find it awkward, but Tony was a professional, and a good one at that, and he did not become flustered by silences. 

About ten minutes passed, and Peter hadn’t spoken any more. He was getting bored, and the feeling of being watched was soon getting uncomfortable for the boy. Eventually he got up and walked out, not caring if he was allowed to or not. 

With a little smirk, Tony got up from his seat to write notes on the progress they made.

Peter wanted to look at the birds outside from his favourite perch, so that’s what he did. It was the one thing keeping him sane in this place, gazing out the window and determining the species that came flying past and across the outside courtyard. He rested his head against the thick glass and blinked slowly, slowly drifting into a daydream where he was back with his aunt May once more.


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's condition only gets worse.

Before their third session the next day, Rogers came knocking on Tony’s office door. ”The Parker boy has barely eaten anything. He looks pretty weak.” Rising from his seat, Tony went with the nurse out in the hall. ”Get Barnes too. I have a feeling he will put up a fight.” The nurse nodded sharply and went to get the other nurse before they all three met in one of the main rooms that lead to the hall where the Parker boy was sulking on the window still.

Peter was tired today – his refusal to eat the disgusting ward food meant that he was quite weak, but it didn’t stop him from putting up a fight and storming out of the canteen to avoid eating. He had immediately headed to his windowsill, perching on it and pulling his knees up to his chest where he rested his chin on his kneecaps. In his head, he recalled the bird species that went past. Wood pigeon… Another wood pigeon… Pied wagtail… He was so absorbed in himself that he didn’t hear the three larger men approach him, nor did he hear what one of them had said to him. He blinked slowly instead, not taking his gaze off the window.

”Something caught your attention there, Parker?” The doctor began, trying to start off gently and give the boy a chance. However, when he didn’t respond, Tony had no choice but get right to the urgent matter and spoke a little louder. ”Peter, I have been informed that you have not been eating. Is this correct?”

For fucks sake. Of course it was Doctor Stark and his braindead lackeys. “Fuck off.” He grumbled, taking a glance towards the three of them stood next to him. As usual, Rogers and Barnes looked big and threatening, but Peter knew that they were secretly as dumb as a bag of rocks. He didn’t even let Doctor Stark continue with his sentence before he got angry again. “I said fuck off!!” He cried, getting off the window sill and taking a step forward, like he was preparing to fight the men in front of him. “I don’t give a fuck! You’re all assholes! Keeping me trapped here like- like an animal… I want to go home, now!”

”It’s all right, buddy. Shall we go somewhere and talk? We will listen to whatever you have to say.” Nurse Rogers suggested kindly, but the offer seemed to offend the teenager.  
Listen to him? That sounds like utter bullshit, and Peter picked up on it immediately. He took a step back this time, his eyes narrowed in confusion before he took off down the corridor, his heart pounding as he ran. However, exhaustion quickly set in due to how little he’d eaten, and soon he had collapsed against the linoleum floor of the hallway, muffled voices in his ears as he drifted out of consciousness.

Tony was stood a little back as he predicted that the Parker boy will run off and the doctor would let the nurses chase him. He predicted correctly as Peter ran off and Rogers and Barnes were a step behind him. However, the boy didn’t get far and in a short while, he was on the medical ward.

It took an hour or so for the boy to come around again and Tony was sat by his bedside when he did. Closing the file in his lap and setting it aside, the doctor rose from his seat to take a look at his patient. ”How are you feeling?” He asked, even though he more or less knew already based on the frown the boy had on his face. Peter looked quite miserable, but he had some more colour in his cheeks now that he was hydrated and had some sugar in his system.

Peter blinked slowly as he came to, his eyelids heavy and sluggish, but the sound of Doctor Stark’s voice made him immediately annoyed before he could even look at the man. When he looked up and saw the doctor above him, he instantly frowned. “Fuck off.” He said, turning his head to look towards the door of the medbay.

Tony chuckled at that and reached to grab the blood pressure cuff from above the bed. ”I’m just taking your blood pressure while we wait for Rogers to bring your meds.” The doctor warned his skittish patient as to not startle him. The boy had no choice but to lay back and let the doctor check him over as he was restrained on the hospital bed.

If Peter could, he would try his best to fight the man off of him, but having been restrained to the bed, he had no choice but to let Doctor Stark attach the blood pressure cuff around his arm. “I’m not gonna take them.” He said quietly, his eyes dropping down to his lap as he waited for his blood pressure to be measured.

”You sure? We can arrange with the kitchen staff to make you something special.” Tony tried, tugging the cuff off once it got a measurement. The doctor was satisfied with the numbers, considering the boy’s state. He heard Nurse Rogers enter the ward with a small paper cup in hand where there was four different pills for Peter.

Peter didn’t say anything, simply gave a small, almost unnoticeable shake of his head. He blinked slowly, his gaze turning back to the side of the room, and pointedly ignored the cup of pills that was placed on his bedside table. He sighed softly, but didn’t say anything otherwise. Although this tube thing was feeding him, he was still exhausted, and didn’t have the effort in him to keep arguing with the doctor.

”Peter, this is your last chance. If you won’t take the medication orally with some food, then I will have to administer them intravenously. They will most likely knock you out, considering your weak state. So what will it be?” The teenager did not respond and with a little hand gesture from the doctor, the nurse went to fetch the medication from the cart. Tony administered them, all clinical and detached as he emptied the third syringe into the teenager’s IV and watched as he became droopy eyed.

Peter simply sat and let the doctor administer the drugs, feeling his body slowly shut down as each drug took its individual effect. Once they were all administered, he watched through heavy-lidded eyes as Doctor Stark got up and left the medbay room. He didn’t know why, but as he drifted off, flashes of his Uncle Ben floated around his hazy vision, and Peter couldn’t help but cry after him, begging for forgiveness, babbling random apologies that became slurred and nonsensical as the drugs knocked him out.

Tony would have wanted to monitor the Parker boy himself, but another one-on-one session with another patient forced him to leave the medbay. But before he did, he asked Rogers to stay by Peter’s bedside, which he of course did. Later in the day, the nurse came knocking on his office door. ”The Parker boy fought the drugs for a while after you left. He kept mumbling and crying about being sorry to an Uncle Ben.” Thanking the nurse, Tony smirked a little and made a quick note in his file.

\---

Peter didn’t have to be dragged to the counselling room this time. He was far too weak to fight, even after having eaten in the canteen, so the nurses simply guided him with a gentle yet firm hand on his shoulders. He had to wait for the doctor, again, and when he arrived Peter immediately looked down at the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

Tony could tell just by looking at Peter that he had eaten, but also by the reports he got from the nurses. ”I was very pleased to hear you ate breakfast today.”

“Pleased?” Peter said, confused. “Why would you be _pleased_? You don’t care about me.”

”It is my job to care about you, Peter, and yes I was pleased. Getting fed through your arm isn’t that pleasant now, is it?” The doctor argued with a little smile. When Peter still refused to make eye contact, Tony glanced down at the boy’s file in his lap and quickly he made some calculations in his head regarding the different medication. Below the doses and timing for the medication, Tony had placed a little post-it note, which simply said ‘Uncle Ben’, but he knew it was too early to bring that up.

“The others said that I was gonna be force-fed next. I’m not letting anybody shove a fucking tube down my throat, especially not you assholes.” Peter muttered bitterly, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on his kneecaps once more. He looked down at the floor, and wiggled his toes inside his velcro’d sneakers, but didn’t say anything more.

The boy was right. They did force feed some of the patients, but only as a last option. It was unpleasant for everybody and rumours spread quickly in the facility among the patients. ”Who said? The staff?”

“No. The _others_.” Peter huffed, like it was the most obvious things in the world. This conversation was beginning to piss him off, and he hated how Doctor Stark seemed to ask the most boring, trivial questions with no point to them. He rolled his eyes and began pulling at the threads of his clothes again, a sign that he was bored and ready to leave.

Glancing down at the post-it, Tony knows he is taking a big chance with the kid, that this could either be a break through or a trigger which worsens Peter’s condition significantly. With the short observation time of two weeks pressing on him, Tony goes ahead and takes a chance. ”They also told me that you got upset after I left you at the medbay.” Before the teen could make an excuse, the doctor pressed on. ”He said you muttered something about being sorry to an Uncle Ben.”

Peter’s initial look of confusion and denial shifted into one of fear and anger when Ben’s name was mentioned. He began trembling in his seat, slowly unhooking his legs to place them down on the floor. Without a second though, he leapt up and headed for the door, his heart pounding in his chest, and he was almost out of the room before he was being held back. He looked down to see Doctor Stark’s large hand wrapped around his elbow, and instantly he felt terrified. “L-Let me go.” He said, trying to be assertive as possible but the true feelings of fear bleeding into his every word.

The first thing the doctor notices is just how skinny the boy is as his fingers easily wrap around the boy’s entire elbow. The second thing was how much he was beginning to tremble in his grasp, barely able to hold himself up on his feet. “Peter, I am here to help. Whatever that happened to you cannot hurt you now. It is safe to talk about it. You’re safe here.“ The doctor stressed.

As much as Peter wanted to break free of the man’s grip and make a run for it, he simply let the man guide him back to the couch, and Peter huddled up on it immediately. He turned to face the back of the couch, lying in a ball with his knees up by his face, and that’s when he started to cry. He kept his sobbing quiet at first, but soon it grew out of control and he screamed once or twice with anguish, pummelling the back of the couch with his fist. He soon stopped, though, and the room fell into a heavy silence once more.

Tony spent the rest of the session sat in the chair with his eyes fixed on Peter on the sofa. Neither said a word for over half an hour. Eventually, the boy quietened down to just sniffles and sighs. He must have been beyond exhausted, and moving to the edge of his seat, Tony finally broke the silence. “How do you feel?“

Peter sighed softly, sniffing as he wiped a stray tear from the corner of his eye. He didn’t bother turning back around, and let his eyes flutter shut as he spoke. “Shit.” He said quietly, and then “I’m not a crybaby.” He huffed, a small frown on his face passing as soon as he came. The exhaustion from the breakdown combined with the exhaustion from hunger soon settled in, and he was soon unconscious on the sofa.

Tony sat in silence with his patient a while longer until Barnes came knocking on his door. “You guys done yet? Oh, another rough one?“ The nurse asked as both he and Tony went over to look at Peter on the sofa, finding him fast asleep. The nurse offered to carry the boy back to his room, but Tony made a dismissive hand gesture and moved to pick up the boy himself. “Could you fetch a B12 shot and meet me in his room?“ The doctor asked and Barnes was off with a little nod. Carrying the boy was a lot easier than Tony expected and luckily he didn’t stir when he was placed in his bed nor when he was given the injection in his upper arm.

Peter didn’t come to for a while, and when he did he startled a little bit at the sudden change of scenery. All the rooms in this place are the same, but Peter knows that this is his room, because of some of the small merchandise pieces and random posters littering his room. He groaned, lifting his head a little and noticing the plaster on his arm. They probably gave him another shot of god-knows-what, he thought to himself, but isn’t bothered to find out as he collapsed against the pillow his head was laid on.

Finishing up the last patient file, Tony groaned out and stretched his arms above his head. The sun had gone down long ago and the office was nearly covered in darkness, only illuminated slightly by the computer screen. The doctor rose from his office chair and shut his computer off and locked everything up before leaving his office to head home for the night.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a mini-breakthrough is made when one of peter's hobbies is discovered.

After a few minutes, Peter found the strength to stand and got up from his bed, hobbling over to the door to see if it was open. Usually the staff locked the patients rooms in the night so that they didn’t go out exploring, but Peter guesses that because Doctor Stark didn’t come into his room often, he might have forgotten to lock the door. With a momentary feeling of glee, he found that the door was in fact unlocked, and so Peter set out into the empty and dark corridors of the ward. He wasn’t planning to “escape”, just walk around a little bit. In bare feet, he began to explore the corridors, walking slowly to the point of sauntering.

Barnes was out on rounds and was currently checking every patient room as well as other main areas where some patients could be wondering. He stopped by and made some friendly small talk with a middle aged woman before he moved on and headed round the corner. Further down the hall, he saw the youngest patient in the facility, Peter, and walked up to him casually, trying to not appear intimidating as he greeted him. “Hey, there.“

Peter shifted on one foot to the next when he spotted Barnes approaching him. He didn’t want to start screaming and shouting in the middle of the corridor, so he simply kept quiet when he was spoken to. “Where’s... Where’s Rogers? You never see one without the other when it comes to you two dummies.” He said not unkindly, his head tilted to one side as he watched the man carefully. Part of him also wondered where Doctor Stark was, but made no attempt to say anything - he hated Stark. Hated him.

Barnes just chuckled in response, genuinely humoured by the boy’s sharp wits and how spot on his observation was. “Yeah, we work quite a lot together but rounds we do on our own. So, what are you up to?“ He asked as he was curious to hear considering what Tony had told him about their session earlier.

“I’m walkin’... what does it look like?” Peter asked, his face scrunching up as he looked the man up and down. See? Brain dead, Peter thought to himself. His gaze dropped from Barnes shortly after, his eyes flitting all over the place. Truth be told, he had never gotten this far into a conversation with one of the nurses without telling them to fuck off. “I was gonna sit on my window but... too dark, so no birds.” He mumbled quietly.

Barnes made a mental note on the window and the birds and to tell the doctor about it in the morning. ”Birds, huh? Do you know a lot about them?” The nurse continued the small talk and started walking again, gesturing with his head for the boy to accompany him.

Peter looked at the man warily for a moment, but shrugged non-commitally and walked to catch up with him. “Yeah, I know a bit... stops me from going batshit crazy in here. I mainly just see wood pigeons and pied wagtails... those birds like big concrete spaces, especially the wagtails, so you usually see them in car parks ‘n stuff.” He rambled, looking down at his feet as he walked. “Aunt May gave me this big book on birds, ‘n I read it cover to cover as a kid. I just like ‘em.”

Barnes nodded along as he listened to the boy explain and open up a bit about his interests. “That sounds really cool. Perhaps we can arrange a trip to look at more birds once you have regained your strength?“ The nurse suggested with a smile, trying to catch the boy’s eyes as they stroll down the hallways

The neutral expression on Peter's face shifted to one of mild annoyance. “I’ll be outta here before you can plan any dumb trip.” He grumbled, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout and his eyebrows furrowed. He pointedly looked away from Barnes. God, that smile was annoying. It made him want to punch the nurse in the face, though he knew it wouldn’t do much.

”Many patients here find that setting a goal makes their recovery a lot easier. Gives it direction, you know?” Barnes explained, noticing that the boy is closing up again, but he had to set some expectations for him so that he didn’t return again right after being released from the facility. ”So, how about we check out the kitchen and see if we can find something tasty? You like peanut butter?”

Peter simply shrugged in response, following the man in the direction of the facility. “Just cos you made me a PB&J doesn’t mean I’m gonna spill all my deepest, darkest secrets, Barnes.” He said, then paused for a moment. “You’d have to make me a chorizo sandwich for that.” He said in a lighter tone, a small smile gracing his features and then disappearing as soon as it came. He didn’t look the man in the face, though, instead he gazed down at the floor.

”Well, we can start out with PB&J sandwich for now, yeah?” Barnes said with a chuckle as they head to the kitchen. On their way, they bumped into Tony and the doctor gave the boy a good once over with his eyes quickly. ”Hey, Peter. Did you sleep well?”

Peter froze up for a moment when they saw Doctor Stark, and his gaze remained fixed on the floor. “Slept fine.” He said quietly, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides. He kept quiet other than that, his head bowed and his shoulders hunched to make him seem as small as possible.

”Peter and I are headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich.” Barnes explained and patted the boy’s shoulder, but very briefly. The doctor smiled at that and praised him. There was no denying that Peter’s ears turned a light shade of pink and he looked up to meet the doctor’s eyes shyly.

Peter immediately shied away from Barnes’ touch, his eyes briefly locking with Stark’s when he’s praised. “Wasn’t my idea.” Peter mumbled, “Barnes thinks more with his stomach than he does with his brain.” He quipped, shrugging and looking back down at the floor. He hoped Stark couldn’t see the blush creeping up his face.

Tony laughed at that, while Barnes looked a bit done with all the mockery, but laughed along nonetheless. ”He does, I’m afraid. But you enjoy your sandwich and I will see you tomorrow, Peter, yeah?”

Peter paused for a second, his mouth open like he wanted to say something, before he shut it. For some reason, he... wanted Doctor Stark to stay with him. More than he wanted Barnes to be there. He didn't dare admit that out loud, though, because then Stark could use that to his advantage. Instead, he shrugged non-committally, not offering a verbal response, and continued to follow Barnes to the kitchen.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the offer of age regression therapy is made, with an interesting result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone who's been keeping up so far! comments and kudos are rly appreciated on this one, its what gives us motivation to keep writing!

During the next day, Tony had his fifth session with the Parker boy. He talked, although about mundane topics, but mundane is good for a teenager who's stuck in a facility when he should be out exploring the world. The doctor listened actively, asking follow-up questions which allowed the boy to go more in depth.

Peter had his session with Stark again, and this time walked in to the room willingly. The sooner he got this shit over with, the better. He decided to lie down on the couch this time, so that he could stare up at the ceiling and not have to worry about making awkward eye contact with the doctor. They talked on and off, which Peter realised was probably more than they had spoken in the last four days combined. He complained about the canteen food, which only proved he had eaten that day, and mentioned the goldfinch he had seen outside that morning. He was itching to talk more about his birds, but he decided not to.

When the boy saw to finish up his story about the bird he saw, Tony changed the topic. "You will be granted phone privileges tomorrow for an hour. How will you spend that time?" The doctor was curious to know more about what Peter thought were important things or people in his life. His file could only hint at such things and Tony would much rather hear the boy explain such things himself.

Peter paused for a moment, thinking about what to say. "I... I'm probably gonna call Aunt May, obviously. I wanna make sure she's okay 'n stuff. And... I dunno. Maybe my friend, Ned? He... I miss him a lot. I dunno if he misses me, though. He's probably busy with... with stuff. Maybe MJ too, she... she's another friend of mine. But she's always busy doin' stuff for the community, charity things so... I dunno if she'll pick up if I call her." Peter rambled, his hands gesturing this way and that as he talked.

Based on the boy's descriptions of the people around him more or less convinced Tony's suspicions. The boy was clearly an avoidant type, and to protect the little self esteem he has, he automatically assumed that no one cared about him. Making a few notes on what Peter had said, Tony came up with a treatment plan.

\---

Peter was confused, to say the least. “Age _what?_ ” He asked, his eyebrows furrowed into a quizzical expression. Usually he wouldn’t look the man in the face, but what Doctor Stark had said was so... odd, that Peter had to look at him to determine whether he was joking or not.

”Age regression therapy. It is a therapeutic technique in which one becomes more passive and take less responsibility for themselves. That means that one will need more care than what their actual level of maturity entails.” Tony explained, watching as Peter blinked multiple times as he clearly struggled to understand. ”Or in other words, you let yourself be more like a child.”

Peter’s face contorted in a number of ways, but more than anything he was just confused. He didn’t get it. Why would he want to be a kid? He was 18, an adult, he could do what he wanted. “That... makes no sense.” He scoffed, but the more he thought about it, the more it slowly started to appeal to him. He wouldn’t be wearing diapers, no fucking way, but... less responsibility seemed kind of nice. He noticed that Doctor Stark was still watching him, and cleared his throat before awkwardly staring at the floor.

”It is a well researched and effective technique. And you can more of less control how far you let yourself regress, but the environment and the caregiver will have an effect too. We have special rooms for this type of therapy here at the facility, ranging from infant to pre-pubescent, as well as highly trained caregivers.” Tony continued explaining.

“Caregivers? So... parents ‘n stuff? They see people like... like that?” Peter asked, tilting his head to one side in curiosity. He didn’t want someone he didn’t know seeing him so vulnerable. Maybe if Doctor Stark was his caregiver... Peter shook his head to himself. Stark wouldn’t do something like that. He was too busy doing other stuff, and Peter was probably at the bottom of his list of priorities.

”Most who try this sort of therapy start by using the first names of their caregivers, then gradually it becomes aunts or uncles, which most are comfortable with using. However, from my experience with previous patients, the best results are achieved when the patient feels safe and comfortable enough to see their caregivers as parental figures and call them such.”

“So... calling them Mom? Or Dad?” Peter asked, shifting on the couch to lie across it like he did yesterday, with his gaze now fixed to the ceiling. _Or Daddy_ , his brain supplied unhelpfully, which Peter rolled his eyes at. He still wasn’t sure about the idea, but... “You wouldn’t have me wearing diapers, would you?” He asked nervously, shuffling on the sofa in discomfort at the thought of being forced into diapers and pull-ups.

”Not unless that is something you want to. However, you may slip further than you want and then us caregivers might have to put you in one just in case. And yes, you could say mom and dad, but most go with mommy and daddy.”

Oh god. At that, Peter felt a blush run up his cheeks at how nonchalantly Doctor Stark had said “Daddy”, and had no choice but to turn so he was facing the back of the couch and thus hiding his face. He put his hands over his face for good measure, and his body trembled a little bit as he calmed down. He didn’t say anything more after that, just tried his best to not focus on how nice it would be to have Doctor Stark as that kind of... Daddy.

Tony let the boy process what he had heard. It was a lot to take in and surely triggered all kinds associations and memories. After a bit of waiting, the doctor spoke again. “How does that sound to you, Peter? Is this something you would want to try?”

Another few minutes passed after Doctor Stark spoke, and Peter thought it over. “I’unno... Maybe. ‘m not a baby, though...” he said, like it was the most important thing in the world for him to be taken seriously. “Would... would I do it by myself, or would I have one of those... carers?”

”There’s nothing stopping you from regressing by yourself when you know how to do it, but we highly recommend that you don’t do it by yourself. It may trigger some memories and just in general that you will not be able to do everything by yourself, so you will always have a caregiver with you during the therapeutic sessions.”

Alright. Time to bite the bullet. Peter squirmed on the couch, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought as how best to ask the next question. “Who would... who would be my carer?” He asked, determinedly not making eye contact with Doctor Stark and staring up at the ceiling. He really, _really_ hoped he couldn’t sense Peter’s blush on the tips of his ears, and Peter tried to remain as nonchalant as humanly possible while he laid there on the couch.

Tony smirked just a tiny bit out of Peter’s sight before answering. ”That would be me, if you are comfortable with that.” The doctor said calmly and smirked again when the boy practically jumped on the sofa.

Peter’s whole body, not just his heart, seemed to skip a beat at that. There was no denying that Doctor Stark was attractive, and he was starting to hate him a bit less as each day progressed. Maybe this... age regression thing wouldn’t be too bad. Peter squirmed on the couch once more before answering. “Y-Yeah, that’s... I’m f-fine with that. Cool. Fine. Whatever.” He said, inwardly cringing at himself. Good job, Parker.

Success, was what Tony felt then, but he tried to hold back and spoke just as calmly as before. ”I really do think this will help you, Peter. It’s gonna take a while to get into it and find what makes you regress and comfortable, but I do think it will be worth it.” He paused a bit to see if the boy would respond, but when he didn’t, the doctor continued. ”Do you wish to go over some details right now or would you take a moment and think about it?”

“Uhm...” Peter thought for a moment. “Can I have just... a couple of details? Not too many, just... just basics, you know?” He asked nervously, his voice already reflecting the small, quiet persona he would take on when he eventually regressed. He began cracking his knuckles again, still chewing on his lower lip and letting it drag between his teeth. It felt weird, talking to people in this place without instantly swearing at them, but Peter felt like if he did that, then Doctor Stark wouldn’t do this... thing with him.

”Well, the basics are that it is supposed to be a fun and relaxing time. But it is still therapy so once you have settled into your headspace, we will talk together, more or less like we are right now.” The doctor explained further and made a note on how furiously the boy was still blushing. ”Do you have other questions? And no question is stupid, Peter.”

Peter listened to what the man said (for once) and furrowed his brow in deep thought. “So would I have to call you...” He couldn’t even say it, the thought of calling Doctor Stark... that word, making him squirm on the seat, but not entirely uncomfortably. He slowly turned his head, only his head, so it was facing the back of the couch, and waited for Doctor Stark’s response.

Tony knew what the teenager meant, but some part of him didn’t want to let him off the hook so easily, so he pressed on teasingly. ”Do you mean Daddy?” The doctor said simply, a brow raised in interest as he looked at the boy

Peter couldn’t help a small squeak when Doctor Stark said _that word_ again, and he was so grateful he was facing away from him. “Yes! Yes, that, that...” Peter didn’t miss the teasing in the man’s voice and he frowned to himself, but didn’t comment on it. Peter kind of liked the idea of calling Doctor Stark that, but for the time being he was just mortified that the Doctor was speaking so frankly.

If only ’daddy issues’ was a psychiatric term, Tony thought to himself as he watched the boy squirm at the mention of that word. ”You can start by calling me Doctor, Uncle or just Tony. Or a combination of those if you wish.” Tony explained further

Peter nodded to himself. “Doctor’s... Doctor’s fine.” He mumbled, finally turning back over once he was sure that he had stopped blushing. He didn’t make eye contact with Doctor Stark though, instead choosing to stare at the man’s knees. “And you won’t make fun of me? If I... if I do this?”

Tony made a note of the title the teenager chose for now, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t last long. ”Of course not, Peter. This is therapy, which means you can say whatever you want. We are all highly trained professional and caregivers and we will not make fun of you in any way.”

Peter paused for a moment, thousands of thoughts running around his head, but more than anything- “Promise?” The boy blurted out, sticking his hand out with his pinky finger extended. Although it was somewhat childish, Peter’s face was hardened, like this was the most important thing in the world to him right this very second. He also finally gave the man eye contact, gazing at him with wide eyes.

Tony was surprised, but he didnt let it show on his face. Dropping his pen, he extended his hand and pinky for the boy with a smile. ”Promise.” They held eye contact as they had their pinkies wrapped, but then the boy pulled back. Sitting back in his seat, Tony asked again. ”Do you have more questions?”

Peter couldn’t help another blush climbing up his cheeks when Doctor Stark smiled at him. He didn’t smile back, just nodded minutely and dropped his hand so it dangled off the couch. He thought for a moment, during which time his eyes drifted back down to the man’s knees. “When does it start?” He asked carefully.

”We’ll start tomorrow at the usual time of our seasions, but one of the nurses will come fetch you and bring you to the Little rooms. Till then, I want you to think about what makes you relax and comfortable. All right?”

Peter nodded silently. He had no idea what these “Little” rooms were going to have in them, or who else was going to be there, but he would just have to suck it up and deal with it. It was gonna help. Apparently. He had no idea what made him relax, though, not in a place like this.

”I’m afraid our time is up now, Peter.” Tony said, gesturing to the clock on the wall apologetically. ”Think about what I’ve said, yeah? And we will work on what makes you relaxed together tomorrow.” The doctor said finally.

Wait, what? Their time was up? Peter only just got here! He opened his mouth to say something, but Nurse Rogers had turned up and was ushering him out of the room. He turned back one last time, about to say “Wait!-“ but the door shut behind him and he was escorted to the canteen to eat his lunch.


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony have their first age regression therapy session together.

”Peter?” Nurse Rogers knocked on the boy’s half open door before entering. ”You ready, buddy?” The boy was sat on his bed in what looked like a comfy hoodie and his usual sweat pants and sneakers. He was clearly anxious over the upcoming session, so the nurse gave him a friendly smile.

Peter was lost in his thoughts until Rogers turned up, poking his head through the door to announce his arrival. Instantly Peter’s head whipped up, but he settled back down when he saw who it was. “Oh, it’s you.” He said quietly. He was glad that it was a nurse that he knew taking him to counselling today, because the stuff he was about to do was... embarrassing. “Yeah, ‘m... ‘m ready.” He swung his legs off of the bed and got up slowly, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and hunching his shoulders so that he subconsciously appeared smaller. He followed the man out and down the corridor, not offering much in terms of conversation.

Rogers could tell that the boy was nervous, which wasn’t uncommon for patients doing age regression therapy for the first time. However, he didn’t wanna make assumptions and asked the almost worn out question. ”How are you feeling today?”

Peter shrugged, trying his best to look casual and uncaring, but offered no verbal response. His hands burrowed deeper into his hoodie pocket and he gazed around him as they entered a corridor that Peter had never been in before. They turned a couple of corners, and Peter had no clue where they were, but had a weird trust that Rogers knew what he was doing.

Stopping by a door, Rogers turned to face Peter. ”Here we are.” He said with a smile and unlocking the door with his keycard, the nurse swung the door open and let the patient walk into the room first. ”Doctor Stark will be here in just a minute, so feel free to look around a bit.”

Peter didn't say thanks, just offered a close-lipped smile before he headed inside. The first thing he noticed was the small round table in the middle of a few chairs, which had a pot of colouring pencils and pens and a stack of paper. Peter huffed with amusement, then looked up to see the shelves, lined with plastic boxes of toys. He frowned at them, glancing towards the door before getting up on his tiptoes to see what was in the boxes. A couple had action figures, mini furniture sets, but then Peter found a box with hundreds and hundreds of small Lego pieces. He grinned to himself and picked one out, turning it over in his fingers. He always played with Lego, even when he went into high school with Ned. Thinking about it made him feel something warm in his stomach, so he closed his fist around the Lego piece and continued looking through the boxes.

Knocking on the door as not to startle his skittish patient too much, Tony entered the counselling room and closed the door behind him. He was dressed in his usual work attire, with a light blue shirt and smart slacks and a lab-coat on top. ”Hello, Peter. How are you doing?”

Hearing the knock on the door made Peter twist around quickly, shoving his hands back into the pocket of his hoodie and taking a step sideways. He knew that Nurse Rogers said he could have a look around, but what if Doctor Stark didn’t want him looking through the boxes yet? “Hi.” Peter said quietly, offering a shy smile in his direction but otherwise making no attempt to properly interact with the doctor. “There’s… a lot of toys in here.” Good job, Parker, fantastic fucking observation. He cringed at himself for sounding so stupid, but he didn’t know this hospital even had toys.

”Yes, there’s quite a lot so that everyone can find something that they like. Have you had a chance to look around yet?” The doctor asked, even though he could see that Peter was stood by the box of legos. He knew that new patients tended to gravitate towards them because they aren’t as childish as the rest of the toys.

“Yeah, I… I had a quick look.” Peter shuffled nervously where he stood, his fist still closed over the piece of lego that was now shoved in his pocket. “It’s all… action figures ‘n stuff, but… I think I saw some lego there too.” He said, glancing over at the box with the lego inside. “Do I get to play with them?”

”Of course, go right ahead.” Tony encouraged and went to sit down in one of the chairs in the room. ”You can bring it over here.” The doctor instructed and gestured to the table in front of him where the boy could set down the box and start building. ”Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?”

Peter grabbed the box of lego and hauled it down from the shelf, carrying it over to the table and placing it down. He shoved the pens and paper to the side so that there was space for the box to be put down, and with a hesitant glance at the doctor, Peter took out a couple of pieces of Lego to start putting them together. It gave him something to fiddle with, and so he found himself speaking a lot easier. “Y-Yeah… I mean, kind of? I tried to, but… It was kinda hard, nothin’ really came to mind.” He sat quietly for a while, clicking the bricks together and holding the structure up at eye-level to see what he was making.

”That’s all right, we can figure that out together.” The doctor said and watched for a moment as the boy began to assemble some pieces together. ”Barnes told me that you are interested in birds. Is that correct?” Tony started casually.

Peter looked up from his work-in-progress to raise an eyebrow at the doctor sat across from him. “Tweedledum said that?” He said, rolling his eyes and looking back down at the lump of bricks in his hand, which was slowly starting to take shape. “Yeah, I am. I just… I like identifyin’ ‘em. There aren’t many around this place, though, cos it’s all concrete.” He said quietly, his tongue poking out between his lips as he continued to build.

”I see.” The doctor nodded and noted on how the boy was sticking his tongue out. It seemed like the legos were making him relax already. ”How many different birds can you identify?” And so they continued talking about birds for quite a while until Peter seemed to be more or less done with the lego structure in front of him. Leaning forwards in his seat, Tony hummed in interest. ”Looks almost finished. Tell me about what you’ve built, Peter.”

After a while, Peter was just staring at his Lego car, tilting his head to one side and squinting his eyes. “It’s… It’s a car, but… I guess it doesn’t really look like one. Looks more like a… a r-rocket ship or somethin’.” He said. It took him a while to dig through the Lego to find the wheels he needed, and it took even longer to find wheels that were the same size. “It’s not very good, it’s… I haven’t played with Lego in a while.”

”I think it looks brilliant. You did a very good job, Peter.” Tony praised and looked at the boy as he did so, giving him an encouraging smile. ”Can I have a closer look?” The doctor asks, gesturing to the lego figure.

Peter smiled to himself, squirming on the seat at the praise. He nodded and handed the car over, sitting back and crossing his legs on the couch as he watched Doctor Stark look at his creation. After a couple of seconds, his gaze dropped down to his lap and his hands went back into his pocket, fiddling with the stray piece of Lego in his hand.

”A car-spaceship. I can definitely see that. You did a great job building. Well done, Peter.” The doctor said as he studied his patient’s creation. Handing it back, he sat back in his seat. ”Do you think you could travel to the moon in your car-spaceship?”

Peter took the car back in both hands, cradling it close to his chest as he examined it himself. “Maybe… I dunno. It’s… It’s a bit small. I’m too big to get into Lego, Doctor.” He said, smiling to himself as he fixed up some of the smaller pieces on the vehicle, moving them around and checking carefully to see what he was doing. “I dunno if I’d wanna go to the moon, either. ‘s far away, and nobody else is there, so I’d just be by myself.”

”It is far away, you got that right for sure.” The doctor nodded with a little chuckle. ”You could travel with someone, though, so you aren’t alone up there. Who would you want to bring along with you on the long journey?”

“Uhm...” Peter thought about it for a moment, his lips pursed and his face scrunched up. “May, probably. Or Ned, Ned likes space. He likes space more than I do, so... yeah, I’d take Ned. We could recreate the... the what’s-it-called... Neil Armstrong moment. That’d be funny.” Peter rambled, huffing a small giggle at the thought of he and Ned together on the surface of the moon, messing around. “You know... you know when Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon for the first time, he... he _wet_ himself. “ Peter said, snorting.

Tony makes a quick note on the people that Peter mentions again in the notepad in his lap. ”No, I didn’t know that.” The doctor chuckles. ”So, you’d bring Ned along with you. How would your journey go?”

Peter flopped down onto the couch, stretching across it like a cat as he thought to himself. “I’unno... it’s nine days from here to the moon. “I spy” would get boring pretty fast.” He said, but then gasped. “Wait, can’t you do the no-gravity thing once you’re up there? That would be so much fun! I’ve always wanted to do a backflip...” He said, clutching the Lego ship to his chest as he thought it through.

”I think you could, yeah.” The doctor chuckled, watching as the boy opened up more and more. Tony had honestly expected a harder time with getting Peter relaxed and talking. ”You want to start on another little project? You don’t have to break your ship apart, unless you want to. But many like to put their creations on top of the shelf over there.” The doctor said and pointed to the shelf where there were dozen or so lego creations on display.

Peter followed the man’s finger to see the various creations on the shelf, and for a second he frowned. “Mine’s not good enough to go up there.” He said to himself quietly, so he began breaking the creation apart piece by piece to put it back in the box. He did it methodically, rather than just smashing the ship up, he took it apart section by section until all the bricks had been separated. “There.” He said, looking down at the small heap of bricks now sat on the table. “I dunno what to build next, though.”

And there he was closed up again, but that was to be expected with a skittish boy like Peter. “That’s all right. Perhaps we could try something else.“ The doctor said as he rose from his seat to look at the stack of puzzles on the shelves. “How about a puzzle?“ The doctor suggested, beckoning the boy over.

A puzzle… Peter hadn’t done one of those in a while. After a moment’s hesitation he got up, and headed over to the shelf where the puzzles were kept. Standing next to the Doctor only made him more aware of the height distance between them, and a weird instinctual part of him wanted to shrink down into his hoodie. “Uhm… that one.” He said, pointing at a puzzle which had a picture of Victorian London on the side. “Please.” He added as an afterthought.

”Of course, Peter.” The doctor said with a smile and handed the box to the teenager, watching him return to the table. The doctor returned to his seat while Peter began searching for the corner pieces of the 200 piece puzzle. “Victorian London, huh? Another fascination of yours?”

Peter took the box and set it down on the table, immediately searching for the corners and the edges of the puzzle. When Doctor Stark asked him a question, Peter just shrugged. “I’unno… The box looked cool. Victorian London itself was just… disease-ridden.” He continued looking for the edge pieces, his tongue poking out of his mouth again in concentration. After a couple of minutes, he looked up to see Doctor Stark watching him. “Do you… wanna _help_?” He asked, not unkindly but as a genuine offer.

Tony had waited for the offer and smiled when it finally came. He set his notepad aside and moved to sit next to the boy. ”I see you got the frame done already. Well done!” The doctor praised as he also began searching for the right coloured pieces to fill the top right corner.

Peter blinked confusedly at the praise, but seeing that Doctor Stark meant it, Peter couldn’t help a small yet genuine smile that graced his features. A few minutes of comfortable silence went by, where Peter and the doctor continued to work on the puzzle, until Peter spoke again. “Do you… do you enjoy doing this stuff? The… this kind of therapy?”

”It is work, but I enjoy it. I mean what’s not to love about legos and puzzles, right?” The doctor said with a smile, but kept his response short. The boy was curious, obviously, and was not comfortable with having all the attention, if any, on him. But there was only so much Tony could say about himself with a patient, let alone other patients and their care. ”Do you have some questions about age regression therapy?”

Peter nodded thoughtfully, running the tip of his tongue over his lower lip as he continued to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Uhm… What happens when I swear? Or, like, do bad stuff?” He asked, not looking at the doctor when he asked. Did stealing a piece of lego count as doing something bad? That piece was still in his pocket from earlier, and he didn’t know how Doctor Stark would react.

”None of us caregivers like profanities during therapy sessions, or at any time for that matter. But once the patient has settled into their regression, some of them do request punishments for bad behaviour. It gives them boundaries, but also an outlet.” The doctor explained as he looked at Peter by his side, however the boy wouldn’t meet his eye.

Peter hummed quietly to show he understood, but didn’t say anything. One hand drifted in to his hoodie pocket, and slowly he took the lego piece out and placed it on the table. He determinedly didn’t look at Doctor Stark at any point during this, and especially not after. Instead, he pretended to focus on the puzzle he was doing, and bit by bit it was starting to come together.

Tony of course noticed the lego piece that Peter retrieved from his pocket and placed on the table, but he did not comment on it. Glancing at his watch, the doctor saw that their time was almost up. They only have 20 or so pieces left of the puzzle. ”Our time is nearly up I am afraid. How do you think this went, Peter?”

"Up? Finished? But... but... we barely just started? We haven't even finished the puzzle!" Peter cried indignantly, gesturing to the almost-complete picture that was now on the table. He wanted to keep doing this, wanted to stay in this room with Doctor Stark and play with toys to his heart's content and not have to deal with the rest of the ward. He began shifting where he sat, becoming a bit distressed but trying his best to keep it under wraps.

”We still have a while, so we can finish the puzzle.” The doctor tried reassuring. ”But if you wish to do this again tomorrow then I need to know how you think it went today. So, tell me.” Tony said, leaving as little room as possible for the patient to wiggle out of it.

"It... I liked it." Peter admitted, unable to stop a bright red blush from spreading up his face, up to the tips of his ears. "The Lego was fun..." He mumbled, peering over at the box again with ideas of what he was going to build next already forming in his mind. "And... and I didn't mind talking to you." He finally admitted, even quieter than before.

”That’s good.” The doctor nodded, handing the last piece of the puzzle to the boy so that he got the honour of finishing it. ”And you did very well today. It takes a lot of bravery to allow oneself to regress. You did great today, Peter. You should be proud of yourself.”

Peter took the piece with a small, close-lipped smile before placing it in the final slot of the puzzle. He sat back, pleased with the picture, and the praise only made him blush harder. "Yeah, yeah... whatever..." He said modestly, shrugging to himself like it was no big deal. He chewed on his bottom lip once more, unsure of what to say next.

”I mean it, Peter.” The doctor pressed a little and tried to catch the teenager’s eyes. It was psychology at it’s simplest. People have a need to be liked and accepted, which was clearly something the boy hadn’t had much experience with through his life. ”You did great today and you should be proud of yourself.”

Peter didn't respond this time, just seemed to shrink further into his hoodie than before. His heart was pounding and he felt light-headed at all the praise he was getting for no reason. If this was what age regression therapy was going to be, he couldn't wait for tomorrow's session.

Right on schedule, there was a knock at the door and Rogers poked his head through with a cheerful smile. The doctor beckoned him in. ”Rogers will bring you to the canteen for some food and then we’ll see each other again tomorrow at the same time, all right?” Tony said and gestured to the nurse by the door.

Peter tried his best to hide his look of sadness at the thought of leaving the counselling room, but he had a slim feeling he wasn’t doing a very good job. He had no choice but to stand up and follow the nurse out, but he did a little wave to Doctor Stark before he left. When Rogers was speaking to him, his thoughts were fuzzy and nonsensical, and he could barely hear what Rogers was saying. He just wanted tomorrow to come a little bit quicker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >me putting in a reference to victorian london as a reference to my other fic which i've neglected for a month and a half,,, whoops


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bit by bit, peter's hard exterior begins to crumble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much to everyone who's given kudos and commented!! it rly motivates us to keep writing and keep putting out daily updates :)

”Just one session and he’s already eating almost normally. I honestly don’t know how you do it, Doc.” Rogers said as he walked with the doctor to the wing with the Little rooms.

With a little cocky smirk, Tony shrugged a shoulder and opened the counselling room with his keycard. ”Fetch him for me, will you?” Tony asked and with a nod, the nurse was off. While he waited for this patient, the doctor stood by the window, glancing over his notes from the day before.

Peter was sat in the canteen eating his breakfast when Nurse Rogers approached him. Because he was the youngest in the facility, he chose to sit away from everyone else, by the window. He didn't mind it, it just meant he could watch the birds in peace. When Rogers approached him, he was ready to quip something about his codependency with Barnes, but the mention of his counselling session made him forget about it. He nodded, already getting a little nervous and giddy, and followed the man out to the wing with the "Little" rooms, as Doctor Stark called them.

”Hey, there. How are you this morning?” Tony asked as he set the files aside when Rogers had closed the door behind Peter, leaving them alone in the same room as the day before. All the toys were back in their place and the table was clear and ready to be used.

Peter shrugged, moving to sit down on the nearest chair. Instantly he crossed his legs on the seat, making himself smaller than usual. "'m okay. Breakfast was a bit shit." He mumbled to himself, but registered the swear-word at the back of his mind. Usually he didn't care at all about his swearing, in fact he used it quite liberally, but for some reason... He kept quiet, looking down at his lap in the hopes Doctor Stark didn't hear him.

”Breakfast was what now?” The doctor smirked a little, eyeing his patient in front of him and the way he blushed. Perhaps now that they were more familiar, Tony could start setting up some boundaries and expectations. Not for punishing, but for praising good behaviour.

"It was..." God damn it. Peter was backed into a corner and they hadn't even done anything yet. Part of him desperately wanted to say it louder, to yell in the Doctor's face that the food was shit, how could he not hear him? But a new part of him didn't want to upset the man, to so quickly disappoint him after the progress they had made yesterday. "It was sh-" He bit down on his lip hard, clearly at war with himself.

The doctor raised an eyebrow in mild interest, even though on the inside he felt something much stronger in his gut as he watched the flustered teen. ”Yes, Peter?” He urged him on.

"I said it was _shit_." He mumbled quietly, his eyes now fixed firmly on the floor. He was allowed to say what he wanted, wasn't he? And Doctor Stark was just going to have to deal with that. He pulled his hoodie sleeves down to make sweater paws around his hands and fiddled with the hems of his sleeves, pointedly not looking at the man at all.

”Peter, I told you last time that we do not care for profantities here at the facility. Do you remember that?” The doctor asked, keeping his irritation to a minimal. Set backs were quite common with defensive teens like Peter, so he had seen it all before. ”I suggest you apologise and then we can carry on with our session.”

Peter's eyes widened and his head whipped up to look the man in the face. Honestly, he was starting to get a little nervous, even despite how cool and collected the Doctor was about this. His gaze fell to the side, and he mumbled an apology quietly, almost too quiet to hear.

”Speak up, Peter.” The doctor said a little sharply now. He didn’t want to waste their short hour together on something like this, but rather get Peter relaxed and comfortable enough to regress a bit. And hopefully more than last time.

Peter gulped. "I said _I'm sorry_." He said, louder this time, but still refused to look up at the man. He began to fiddle with the velcro on his shoes, pulling at the corner of the velcro strap bit by bit. "Can we play with Legos now?" He asked, his bottom lip slowly jutting itself out into a pout without him even realising it.

”Apology accepted, Peter, but never do that again. And yes, you may fetch the legos now.” The doctor said, gesturing with his hand to the lego box.

The boy glanced up to make eye contact with the doctor, and held it for a moment before cautiously getting up and making his way over to the box of Legos. He picked it up from the shelf and brought it over to the table, sifting through it to see what bricks he would need for his next creation. Seeing how assertive Doctor Stark could get made Peter nervous, but also a little flustered. He didn't want to think about that, though.

Tony could tell a comfortable silence from an awkward one and he had a feeling that the boy needed some further guidance. ”I’m not stern to be mean, Peter. I’m stern because this is what’s best for you. Do you understand?” The doctor pointed out, his voice a little softer now.

God, he hated that soft voice. For some reason it made him more upset than being straight-up yelled at, and Peter had to sniffle a couple times to regain composure. “Y-Yeah, I understand. ‘m sorry for swearing, Doctor.” He said quietly, his eyes not moving from where he was constructing his new masterpiece, which was (unsurprisingly) another car.

The doctor couldn’t help but smile at the genuine apology, but the boy didn’t look up to see it, so he said instead. “Good boy, Peter.” It was quite a powerful tool, those two words and Tony almost wished he wasn’t practicing so that he had time to carry out research on just how powerful those two words were.

Peter flinched momentarily where he sat, hesitating his building to bask in the glow of more praise, before he got back to construction with some renewed vigour. In the back of his mind, he wanted this race car to be the best car ever so he could impress his Da- the Doctor. So he could impress Doctor Stark.

”So, what did you do after our session last time? I hear from Barnes that you two talked more about birds.” The doctor prompted, making a note on how Peter had a tendency to build cars out of the legos. Perhaps the Hot Wheels cars and the ramps would interest him too.

“Y-Yeah, we did. I saw a goldfinch the other day, and a sparrow, so I got kinda excited. He just happened to be there when I got excited so I kinda had to tell him...” He explained, picking the half-constructed car up and peering at it. After a moments pause, he held it out to Doctor Stark. “Do you... wanna add some stuff to it?” He asked, his head tilted to one side.

”I would love to.” Scooting to the edge of his seat, the doctor took the car and studied it before searching a bit through the box. ”You’re a very nice boy for sharing, Peter.” He pointed out and looked up from assembling the pieces to see Peter’s reaction. ”Who else do you share things with?”

Peter glowed at that, a big beam spreading across his face which crinkled his eyes. “I... I share with everyone. I try to, anyways. Like... snacks ‘n stuff. Sometimes there’s too much for just me, so... I like giving some to my friends.” He said, watching intently as Doctor Stark continued to build the car. He could already tell this was going to be better than the last, but not because it was a better shape, but because Doctor Stark had helped him make it.

”That sounds like something a good friend does.” Tony commented, studying the car before offering it to his patient again. He hadn’t added too much to it, as it was Peter’s creation, but he had made it a little sturdier. The doctor had become quite good at building over the years with patients in age regression therapy.

Peter took the car back, not too eagerly, but he had definitely seen some bits he wanted to add to. Sticking his tongue out once more, he plunged his hand into the Lego box to grab some more pieces. “Ned’s a good friend.” Peter said absentmindedly. “We met in... in kindergarten. He shared his lunch with me cos a kid stomped on my sandwich.” He explained quietly.

”Kindergarten, huh? You’ve been friends for a long time. Are you two in the same class?” The doctor asked, very much curious to hear about the people in Peter’s life.

“Uh huh. He’s my best friend. Bestest friend.” Peter mumbled, now just sticking random bricks onto his car to make it look weird. He was getting bored of the Lego’s, and his eyes started to drift across the room to see what else was available to him.

Tony noticed the change in Peter’s attention and recognised it as a sign that he was regressing. The doctor encouraged it and tried to follow the boy’s gaze. ”You can get up and look around, Peter. You can play with whatever you want.”

Peter hesitated for a split second, glancing back at Doctor Stark to check it was okay to get up, before getting up and heading over to the shelves of toys. He poked his head into a couple of the boxes, peering and examining a few, when a box of Hot Wheels caught his attention. “Woah...! You have Hot Wheels! Aunt May could never afford the tracks to go with them, I only used to have the cars...” he said quietly, pulling the box off the shelf and setting it down on the floor by the couch. Rather than sit back on the couch, he chose to sit on the floor with the box like it was the most normal thing in the world. He examined a couple of cars, spinning their wheels around and admiring the customisation on each one. “These are so cool...”

Tony made a little note on what he had said about his aunt before putting his notepad aside and joining Peter by the couch. He crouched down by him and looked at the car he was holding up. ”They are, aren’t they? I bet these drive with lightning speed.”

Peter nodded, still holding one up at eye level. “Only one way to find out.” He said, pulling out one of the ramps from the box as well. With a quick look over to Doctor Stark to check it was okay with him, Peter set up the ramp and placed the car at the top of it. He muttered a little countdown under his breath, before letting go of the car and watching it zoom down the ramp. However, he didn’t set up the ramp correctly, and so the car flew off the track and hit the wall of the room. Peter visibly flinched when that happened, and instantly dived forward to grab the car back. “I-I’m sorry, Dah- Doctor, I didn’t mean to do that!” He squealed, checking the car over for any damage.

”That’s all right, Peter. Accidents happen when little boys are playing, yeah?” The doctor assured, trying to hold back his smirk at the fact that Peter had almost uttered that one word. ”I think the ramp needs some adjusting. Let’s see.” And as Peter returned with the car, Tony fixed up the ramp before sitting back on the sofa. ”There, try again, Peter.”

 _Little boy_. It was odd how those two words sent unidentifiable shivers up Peter’s spine. They weren’t unpleasant, in fact they were comforting, and the baritone voice of Doctor Stark helped him feel at ease. He completely missed the poorly hidden smirk that the Doctor has on his face as he spoke, instead choosing to focus on checking and double checking that the car hadn’t been dented by accident. He placed the car back on the top of the ramp carefully, and with another quick countdown he watched as the car went around the track properly this time. It came skidding to a stop when the track ended, and Peter couldn’t help a little whoop of glee that it had worked. “Thank you, Doctor.” He said quietly, that soft and shy smile returning to his face once more.

”You’re very welcome. Why don’t you try adding some more of the tracks? I think these cars can go even faster.” Tony said, trying to encourage the boy to explore and experiment with the new toys. Many patients became shy and quiet in little space, which was totally fine, but most of those were overly active in their normal headspaces. Peter, on the other hand, could greatly benefit from situations where he is allowed to let lose, take up space and enjoy himself.

Peter nodded at that idea, leaning over and reaching into the box to recover as many track pieces as he could. He put them down bit by bit, testing each new part of the track by pushing the car along it slowly. This lasted for about five minutes, before he soon got bored _again_. He didn’t know why he was getting bored, but he kept glancing up and around the room to see what else he could play with.

The doctor caught onto Peter’s lack of attention. Preferably, the boy should take initiative himself, in conversation and in playing. However, a lack of attention or interest could make him age up, so Tony sat up in his seat with a new task. ”How are we play a game together?”

“A game? What kind of game?” Peter asked, still holding one of the Hot Wheels cars in his hands. He fiddled with it intermittently, spinning its wheels or turning it over in his fingers. Peter leant back so that his back rested against the seat of the couch, due to still being sat on the floor. He chewed on his bottom lip again, which seemed to help him relax a little bit.

”Let me fetch the supplies and I’ll show you. Sit tight.” The doctor said with a smile and got up to one of the shelves. The game included a box of blocks of different sizes and shapes, with some corners painted in different colours, as well as a stack of cards. ”Clear away the Hot Wheels, Peter, and then we can being.”

Peter nodded eagerly, and began to do what he was told, breaking apart the Hot Wheels track and putting it back in the box. He held on to the car he already had in his hand, though, as it was something he could fidget with. When the rest of the cars and the ramps were put in the box, he stood up carefully and put the box back on the shelf. When he turned back around, he saw what Doctor Stark had brought in, and he tilted his head in confusion. “What game is this?”

”See these blocks? How they are all slightly different with red and white on different sides?” Tony pointed out, placing the blocks in front of him on the floor and picked up one to show Peter. ”You get to use these blocks while I will show you different cards. Your task is to recreate the design on the card with the blocks. Can you do that for me?” The doctor asked, showing the stack of cards in his hand.

Peter looked from the blocks, to the cards in Doctor Stark’s hand, then up to Doctor Stark’s face. “That’s it?” He asked, but then his face broke out into an easy grin. “I can do _that_ , that’s easy!” He huffed amusedly, picking up one of the blocks to look at it. He wiggled his toes inside his Velcro’d trainers excitedly. “It’s like a puzzle!” He said, putting the block back down. “I like puzzles.”

”All right, good boy. Here’s the first card.” The doctor said and showed the first card in the stack, holding it at eye level for the boy on the floor. It was a simple design and only required 4 of the 12 blocks, but gradually, they would become harder.

‘Good boy’. There were those two words again, making Peter flustered and creating a warm feeling in his stomach. He peered at the card closely, memorising the pattern, before turning back to the blocks in front of him. He muttered to himself as he worked, much too quiet for the doctor to hear as he worked through the puzzle. After a minute or so- “There! Did I do it? Did I get it?” He asked, turning to look back at Doctor Stark for approval.

”Yes, you did! Well done, Peter.” The doctor praised with a wide smile. Bringing a new card up, Tony gave the boy the next challenge. ”Ready for the next one?”

Peter grinned back, wide and genuine, before leaning forward to peer at the card again. Quickly glancing at Doctor Stark for wordless permission, he gently took the card from the Doctor to study it more closely. Once he had memorised the pattern, he gave it back and turned to the blocks to start putting them in order. He continued to mumble to himself as he worked, talking things through out loud. Once again, after a couple of minutes- “Did I do it?”

Looking down at what design Peter had created with the blocks, Tony checked the card and found that it matched once more. ”Well done! You’re getting the hang of it now.” The doctor praised once more, however he would wait a few more cards before he used a head pat or stroke on the cheek to reinforce the praise even further.

Peter smiled even wider than before. The game continued a few more times, and each time Peter repeatedly got the patterns right. He was enjoying himself a lot, receiving verbal praise and the feeling of getting the puzzle correct. After a few more tries, he turned to Doctor Stark with another completed pattern for him to check if it was correct.

They were getting to the harder patterns now and for the first time, Peter had made a mistake. Perhaps he had been a bit too quick, or he was starting to regress further and thus wasn’t able to perform harder tasks. ”You almost got it, little one. Count the blocks again and see how many you need.” The doctor instructed and showed the card to Peter again.

Peter frowned, looking at the card and then looking back at the blocks he had laid out. He made a small noise of frustration when he realised he was missing a block, whispering “Crap!” under his breath as he looked for it. He finally found it and the orientation he needed to complete the shape, so he turned back to the Doctor. “I did it, I did it!”

The doctor decided not to point out the bad word and demand an apology, but instead watched as Peter fixed his mistake and then looked up at him for approval once more. ”There, you got it! Good boy, Peter.” And this time, the doctor went in with a squeeze on the shoulder, but didn’t let the touch linger for long.

The approval made Peter feel good, but the squeeze to his shoulder made him freeze up entirely. He didn’t dare move as Doctor Stark touched him, but the second he moved away Peter let out a gentle upset whimper. He... He wanted more. He wanted to be held again, and he mumbled something under his breath embarrassedly.

Tony noticed the change in Peter’s body from relaxed to tense, but what the boy muttered he couldn’t quite hear. ”Can you say that again, little one?” He urged gently, leaning down to be closer to his patient.

Peter gulped hard at that, forcing himself to breathe properly and to relax. “C-Can you... Can you t-touch me again? Please, Dah- Doctor?” He said, correcting his title again. He didn’t dare turn around to see what Doctor Stark thought, instead choosing to look down at his lap.

”Of course, Peter.” And placing his hand on Peter’s shoulder again, he guided the boy to lean against his knee. The doctor placed his hands in the teen’s curls, rubbing gently. ”You were so brave for asking, and so nicely at that. You’re a good boy.” Tony added with a smile.

Peter smiled to himself gently, closing his eyes and following the guidance to lean against the Doctor’s leg. He also tilted his head so that it rested on the man’s lap, and the feeling of Doctor Stark’s hand running through his hair made him feel more calm and at ease than he had done at any point previous to this at the hospital. The blocks laid forgotten on the floor as he sat with his head in Doctor Stark’s lap, and he gently mumbled “Thanks, Daddy...” to himself as Doctor Stark stroked his hair.

As he ran his fingers through the boy’s curls, Tony could feel him relaxing again and even his breathing evened out to a nice, deep and slow rhythm. At the little mumbled thanks and title, Tony couldn’t help but grin, but luckily it was out of Peter’s sight. ”You’re very welcome, little one. Just rest for a bit now. You’re safe here with me. I’m here, it’s okay.” He explained gently and soothingly, moving his fingers to rub behind the boy’s ear a bit before returning to his curls.

Peter nodded slowly at that, relaxing even further against the man’s leg. When he felt Stark’s fingertips against the backs of his ears, he squirmed where he sat, huffing out a light giggle. “S-Sorry. It... I’m really ticklish.” He mumbled, settling back down once Doctor Stark’s fingers had moved back to his scalp. “Feels nice...” he sighed contently, his eyes still shut comfortably.

”Sorry.” The doctor chuckled and moved his hand to Peter’s curls. After some comfortable silence and some more head scratches, Tony spoke up gently. ”You sleepy, Peter? You wanna come lay down?”

“Mhm...” Peter hummed, standing up slowly so he could flop down on the couch. However, with Stark sat at one end, he had no choice but to curl up on the other end like a cat, shutting his eyes and squirming to get comfortable. He glanced up at Doctor Stark every so often, desperate to ask if he could lay his head on the man’s lap again.

”It’s all right, you can lay your head in my lap.” The doctor said with a friendly smile, lifting his hand and beckoning the boy over. ”You can take a nap here if you want. No one is going to disturb us, so you can rest a bit.”

Peter tried his best to seem casual about it, but he couldn’t hide the grin on his face as he scrambled over to rest his head on the man’s legs. He stretched out properly, and turned on his side to face outwards before closing his eyes once more. He sighed contently again, and soon was out like a light, breathing gently and his shoulders rising and falling softly as he dozed off.

The doctor sat still as the boy slept with his head in his lap. To be honest, age regression therapy didn’t just benefit his patients, but he also got a deep sense of satisfaction from being a fatherly figure to little girls and boys. He cherished each little smile and blush that he got in response to praising them and Peter was making steady progress there. After 20 minutes or so, Tony noticed that Peter was making some soft noises and looking down at him, he saw that he had his thumb in his mouth, sucking on it lazily.

Peter was having the nicest dream since he had arrived at the hospital. In it, he and Ned were out at the park eating ice creams in the pleasant summer sun, and sitting on the soft grass. Peter was eating his ice lolly with gusto, not particularly caring at how it dripped down his fingers. The dream started to dissipate though, and soon Peter awoke... with his thumb in his mouth? Was that what he had been sucking on the entire time? He flinched, pulling it out of his mouth. When had he fallen asleep?

When the boy flinched awake in his lap, the doctor moved his hand to his shoulder to keep him steady. ”Hey, hey, it’s all right. You just woke up a bit suddenly. You’re safe, Peter, it’s okay.” The doctor shushed.

“Wha...?” Peter squirmed on the man’s lap. Wait. His lap? When had... Peter looked around, then up at the man holding him steady. “The fuck? Why am I...?” Peter looked down at his thumb, still glistening with a bit of saliva, and wiped it hurriedly on his sweatpants. “I-I’m not a baby.” He insisted, trying to move away from the Doctor. “I’m not, I’m...” Peter continued to squirm.

The doctor let the boy sit up and looked at him calmly. ”Of course not, Peter, you just regressed further while you slept. It is completely normal and doesn’t make you a baby.” Tony assured, but could still see that his patient needed further reassurance. ”In fact, you did a very good job today allowing yourself to relax and regress. You should be proud of the work you did today, Peter.”

Peter paused for a moment, his temporary panic dissipating when he was praised. “It’s normal?” He said cautiously, now sat on his knees on the couch with his hands resting on his thighs. “It... I didn’t really... _work_ today, though. I just did some puzzles and made Lego stuff, that isn’t...” The regression was creeping up on him once more, slowly but surely, and he instinctively shrunk into his hoodie, allowing the comforting material to swamp him.

”If it doesn’t feel like work, then it means you are becoming more comfortable with the regression. Eventually, you will be able to do it by yourself.” The doctor explained. He could see that the boy wanted to slip back into his little headspace, but their time was running out. ”Tell me what else you think about our session today.”

“Uhm...” Peter thought for a moment, scrunching his face up in deep concentration. “It was fun. I liked... liked the block game. And the Hot Wheels. And... and when you, uhm, when you touched me.” He said, far quieter at the end of the sentence than at the beginning. “I like doing this.” He admitted, a little smile lighting up his face. “I like spending time with you like this, D-Duh...” He stammered, his brain at war with what he wanted to say, but was too embarrassed to, or what he _should_ say.

“It’s okay, Peter. You can tell me whatever is on your mind.“ The doctor assured as he looked at the boy struggle with himself. Glancing up at the clock quickly, Tony predicted that Barnes would be knocking at the door in a few minutes.

Peter chewed on his lip, then shook his head from side to side quickly, his curls bouncing on his head and in his eyes. He withdrew quite suddenly into his hoodie, his hands in his pocket. He dropped his gaze too, looking down at his knees nervously. More than anything, he wanted to regress again, to achieve the relaxed state he had been in before he had his nap. Above all, though, he wanted to stay here with Doctor Stark.

Tony hated how short the sessions were, but he had other patients to tend to which required a strict schedule. ”That’s all right. You can tell me tomorrow perhaps? And then we can continue with the blocks if you wish.“ The doctor said a little cheerfully, giving his patient something to look forward to.

Peter nodded, another small close-lipped smile on his face at the thought of it. Right on cue, Nurse Barnes knocked on the door, and Peter’s face dropped back to a somber frown. He got up from the couch, tugging his hoodie further down his torso, and followed Barnes out of the room. Before he left, though, he turned back once more and gave Doctor Stark a small wave, much like a child would.

”I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter.” The doctor said and once the patient had left with the nurse, he got up to make notes on the session.

Out in the hall, Barnes tried to make some light conversation. ”How are you doing, buddy?”

“‘m fine.” Peter said glumly, not looking up from the floor as he walked down the corridor next to Barnes. He kept quiet after that, his head swimming with thoughts of how he missed Doctor Stark already and he was barely out of the room. It was odd how quickly he had changed from hating the man to wanting to be around him all the time, but... he guessed that was part of the therapy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the puzzle game they were playing: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Block-Design_Tests


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> progression is made during their final therapy session together.

Peter made steady progress in his age regression therapy, opening up more and more and slipping easier in and out of his headspaces. On the tenth day and their tenth session, Tony gave Peter a bunch of crayons and an assignment to draw his family and friends.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows at that. “Family ‘n friends... Okay, I can... I can do that.” He grabbed a crayon and paused, holding it to his lips as he thought about who to draw. Slowly, he put crayon to paper and began to doodle, his tongue poking out in concentration yet again as he drew. He wasn’t a very good artist, and it only took him a couple of minutes before he had finished drawing. There, on the page, were four people: himself, Aunt May, and his best friends Ned and MJ. They were labelled with their names too, to help identify them. He sat back and looked at the paper, before showing it to the Doctor.

”Aunt May, Ned, MJ and Peter.” The doctor read aloud as he studied the picture. ”That looks great. Tell me about each one that you’ve drawn.” Tony prompted, sitting back in his seat again and looked at Peter in front of him

"Soooo... that's me. You know me. Uhm... That's Aunt May, she... she's the best, she takes care of me, 'n she's always really supportive. Ned... Ned is cool. We build Legos together, and he always... always lets me copy his homework when I forget to do it. MJ's really nice too, she's very... yeah, she's nice. She's the one I talk to about my problems, cos... cos she's smart, so..."

The doctor nodded along as he listened to the boy’s descriptions. He also made a note on the difference in his descriptions when it little space. He seems more affectionate and loving, more open with his emotions and connections to other people. ”That sounds like a great bunch of people you have in your life. Is that correct?”

"Mhm!" Peter hummed, nodding excitedly and bouncing a couple of times where he sat, staring down at the picture. "I miss them though..." He mumbled, chewing his lip again. Subconsciously, he also brought his thumb to his mouth and put the tip of it between his lips, not entirely sucking it but just holding it there.

”You’ll get to see them in a couple of days when you are released from here. What do you think about that?” The doctor asked, hoping the question wouldn't startle the boy too much and cause him to age up.

Peter frowned. “I get to go home?” He asked. Initially, the idea of going home and seeing Aunt May and his friends again filled him with joy, but then... “I won’t get to see you, though. Wh-What will happen then?” He said, getting a little more upset. “I don’t wanna leave you behind, D-Daddy.” He said quietly, the title now getting a bit easier to say without blushing profusely.

The conversation could have gone two ways, and it went in the worst direction. Tony had hoped to save this conversation for when Peter was aged up, as he would be better at handling the feeling of rejection, but now there was a scared child in front of him who he doubted could handle the heavy feeling of being sent away. ”You cannot stay here forever, little one, I’m afraid. We can arrange appointments so that we get to see one another, however. So you can come in and we can play with some legos together, yeah?”

"You promise? Pinky promise?" Peter said immediately, his eyes wide and shining as he tried to fight back the feeling of tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. "You gotta promise, Daddy, you gotta!" He said, more anguished this time, his chest rising and falling heavily. His jaw was set and his fists clenched in his lap, but he wasn't about to lash out, he was just nervous and afraid.

Extending his hand and pinky, Tony wrapped his pinky around Peter’s and shook it to emphasise their deal. ”Pinky promise.” But the teen didn’t seem entirely comforted and the doctor predicted tears, so rising from his seat he gestured for the boy to follow him to the sofa. ”Come sit with me, Peter.”

Peter nodded, getting up from his seat and following Doctor Stark to the couch. When the doctor sat down, Peter did too, instantly resting his head on the man’s shoulder and shutting his eyes to try and force himself to relax. He knew that Doctor Stark had pinky-promised it, but he still felt nauseous at the concept of the man leaving him and making him go back to living normally without him.

Bringing his hand up to stroke the boy's curls again, the doctor spoke gently. ”Peter, listen to me. You getting released means you are better than when you arrived. You've worked on yourself and that means you can return to your Aunt and your friends Ned and MJ. It is a good thing and you should be proud of what you have accomplished here.”

“But... but what about you?” Peter asked, his voice small and timid. “I won’t get to see you anymore. They... They’re taking me away from you, I don’t...” Peter tried to talk, but he was soon hiccuping and stumbling over his words as hot tears began trailing down his cheeks. He stopped talking for a while as he sniffled, bringing his hoodie sleeve up to wipe at his face clumsily.

”I'm a doctor, Peter, and you becoming better and being released means I have done my job.” The doctor tried to explain, but knew that no amount of logic could sooth the emotional hurt the boy was feeling. Wrapping a strong arm around the boy, Tony pulled him closer to his chest and rubbed his back, keeping his other hand in his curls. ”It's okay to cry, Peter, and it's okay to feel sad. But, you'll be all right. You'll be okay.” He comforted.

"'s not fair..." Peter said glumly, sagging hopelessly like a sack of potatoes against the man's side. Without warning, he shuffled closer and climbed onto his lap, burying his face in the crook of the doctor's neck. Simply having his head on Doctor Stark's shoulder wasn't enough, he needed proper touch, and so he clung onto the man much like a koala would cling to a eucalyptus tree.

Without hesitation, Tony wrapped his arms around the boy and held him tight, bouncing his leg just a little to try to sooth him. ”You feel like it isn’t fair. Tell me more, little one.” The doctor prompted, rubbing his back gently

When Peter spoke again, it was muffled by the doctor's labcoat. "If I leave, I can't do this any more." He said bluntly, playing with the buttons on Doctor Stark's lab coat. He appreciated how Stark's arms held him so tightly, and it made him calm down a lot quicker than he would otherwise. "Don't wanna leave you, Daddy..." He mumbled.

”You will be able to do this, Peter. I will refer you to another doctor who will continue playing with you.” The doctor explained, rubbing more firmly up and down the boy's back, but spoke gently. ”What do you think about that?”

Peter frowned at that. "Someone else?" He asked, leaning back to look the man in the face. "Are they nice?" He didn't want someone who wasn't going to be nice. Actually, he didn't want anybody else at all, but he wasn't going to tell Doctor Stark that. He didn't want to do it at all if Doctor Stark wasn't going to be helping him.

”I would never refer such a good boy like yourself to someone who wasn't nice.” The doctor chuckled to try and cheer the boy up and bounced his leg a little again. Ending a relationship was one of the hardest parts of the job, for both doctor and patient, but it could absolutely be done in a smooth manner. ”Doctor Strange is really nice and he has lots of legos and fun blocks you can play with, just like you've done with me here.”

"You think I'm a good boy?" Peter said, starting to cheer up a little bit at the praise he was given. A small grin spread across his face, but he hid his face back in Doctor Stark's shoulder to hide the blush that started creeping up his cheeks. "I'll miss you, Daddy. It's... It won't be the same." He said glumly.

”I don't think you're a good boy, I know that you're a good boy.” The doctor stressed, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck and giving a loving squeeze. ”And it's okay to miss people and be sad about it.”

Peter shivered when Doctor Stark gripped his neck, the touch oddly affectionate, and Peter couldn't help but melt into the man's lap. "Thanks..." he mumbled, gripping the man's lab coat again. He raised one of his sleeves again to wipe away any tear tracks on his cheeks, and sniffled hopelessly. He wanted to ask whether Doctor Stark would miss him, but maybe that... that was too much.

”You’ll be all right, little one.” Tony assured again and continued to rub Peter’s back for a while longer. ”Do you wanna play with something or shall we just sit here like this?”

Peter thought it through. "I... I don't know. Both." He said quietly, giggling to himself. He turned his head to one side, resting his temple against Doctor Stark's shoulder so he could look at the man's goatee. He lifted his hand slowly, then began to pet at it randomly, running his fingertips through the bristles and laughing at how they tickled him.

With a little chuckle, the doctor grasped the boy’s prying hand. Tony got a sudden urge to kiss the boy’s fingers, but he knew that that would be unprofessional, even in age regression therapy. ”How about ’I spy with my little eye’?” He suggested, hoping it would suit the boy’s need for closeness and a game to play.

Peter wriggled his wrist about when Doctor Stark grabbed his hand, pretending to try and struggle to break free, but otherwise stayed still on the man's lap. "Yeah! I spy sounds fun. You... You can go first." He said, giggling to himself.

”All right. Let’s see...” The doctor thought to himself, looking around the room until he fixed his eyes on the shelf were the lego creations were on show. He chose the little lego rocket that Peter had built the day before and dared to put on show. ”I spy with my little eye... something red.”

Instantly, Peter swivelled in Doctor Stark's lap so that he was looking around the room. His back was flush against Stark's chest, and his eyes darted all over the room. "Uhm... Red... Is it... Oh, is it the carpet?" He said, pointing to the burgundy carpet that sat under the table that currently had Peter's drawing on it.

”Nope.” Tony chuckled, placing a hand on the boy’s stomach to keep him steady on his lap. ”Something that’s hard.”

"Hmm..." Peter pondered, narrowing his eyes as he looked around the room. His eyes drifted across the shelf, but then focused on the lego creations. Wait... they were red! "Wait, is it the... is it the rocketship I made?" He said excitedly, pointing at it.

”Yes! You got it right, well done!” The doctor praised, patting the boy’s thigh with his hand. ”Then it’s your turn, little one.” Tony prompted with a smile.

Peter grinned widely, wiggling his toes with excitement again. "My turn? Hm..." He turned and looked around the room, his eyes zoning in on the grey beanbag over in the corner of the room. "I spy with my little eye, something grey!" He said, dropping his gaze to the floor so that he couldn't give away what he was looking at.

”Hmm... grey, grey, grey...” The doctor pondered aloud, bouncing his leg again at each word. He scanned the room for a while, until he saw the grey owl stuffie on the shelves opposite them. ”Is it the owl?” Tony asked, pointing at the stuffie in question.

Peter giggled at every bounce of Doctor Stark's leg, squirming as he bounced up and down in tandem. He couldn't help a grin at how Doctor Stark seemed to furrow his brow in concentration. It was quite a funny look on him, but Peter found it endearing too. When Stark guessed, Peter squealed and shook his head. "Nope!"

”It wasn’t! Okay, okay... Hmm. Can I have another hint?” He asked the boy, very much playing along by keeping his face expressive and voice engaging.

"Mhm! It's... lumpy." He said, his eyes wide and the cheeky grin still on his face. His hand went up to Doctor Stark's beard again, stroking at it once more in the way that someone might stroke their own beard when they were deep in thought.

The doctor couldn't help but laugh at the boy's fascination with his beard and once more he grasped his prying hand and held it his grasp. "Hmm, lumpy, you say? What's lumpy?" He thought aloud again until he seemed to figure it out as he noticed the beanbag. "Is it the beanbag?"

Peter’s eyes kept drifting in the direction of the beanbag, and when Doctor Stark guessed it he let out a high pitched squeal of delight. “You got it! It was the beanbag!” He laughed. When he noticed his hand had been pulled away from Doctor Stark’s beard and was being held in the man’s grip, he put on an exaggerated frown, trying to pull and tug his wrist free from Stark’s grip. “Noooo! Not my hand!!” He whimpered, pretending to squirm and struggle on the man’s lap. “Help! I’ve been captured! Aaaaah!!” He made a fake noise of terror, but was giggling way too much for it to be genuine.

”Oh, this hand? Oh, that's mine now, Peter.” The doctor laughed, going along with the boy's game. ”You can't have them, I'm afraid, because they look so tasty. I almost wanna eat them...” Tony said with a dramatically sinister voice, pulling the boy's hand to his open mouth

“Wh- No! They’re /my/ hands!!” Peter cried indignantly, laughing even harder at the man as he toyed with Peter’s hands. “Nooooo!! Pleeeeease, pleeeease have mercy!” He begged, struggling in the man’s grip even more and twisting on his lap. Doctor Stark was a really good actor, and Peter felt shivers up his spine at how villainous he could look, but he knew it was all a joke. “No, no no no, don’t eat me!”

”How can I not eat you, little boy? You’re too cute and sweet, I have to!” Tony growled, holding the squirming boy more or less steady in his lap with his other hand around his waist.

“Nuh-uh! ‘m not! I’m all... all leathery ‘n gross! You... You wouldn’t wanna eat me, Mr. Big Bad Wolf!” He squealed, the name suddenly coming to him as a joke which he blurted out. He shook his head frantically, his curls bouncing on his head, while his other hand tried to push hopelessly at the man’s chest to get some distance between them. He was giggling so much it was almost incomprehensible to hear what he was saying.

”But Big Bad Wolves eat pretty and good boys’ fingers. It’s all we eat!” Tony said with another growl and tipped the boy off his lap and onto the sofa, towering over him with his hand still in his grasp. ”Won’t you give me a taste, pretty boy?” The doctor asked, snapping his jaws as he played along.

Peter let out a cry of surprise when he was tipped onto the sofa, his back hitting the seat cushion and his legs stretched out. Instantly Doctor Stark was over him, and though he tried to scramble backwards and away from the man, his wrist was snatched up again. He let out a whimper of pretend fear, turning his head to one side to bare the side of his neck and squeezing his eyes shut. “N-No, Mr. Wolf!” He gulped, shaking his head furiously. “Y-You can’t! I won’t let you!” He cried out, squirming against the seat cushions.  
Despite his fear, he was still having a good time, knowing he was safe in Doctor Stark’s care without even having to think about it.

”Just a little bite, pretty please? I’m so hungry, pretty boy.” Tony whined and even let out a little howl. ”Just your pinky will do!”

Peter paused, opening his eyes slowly and looking Doctor Stark in the face. He pursed his lips as he thought, and slowly but surely he nodded. “O-Okay... Just my pinky, okay, Mr. Wolf?” He said, shifting on the seat nervously as he watched Doctor Stark theatrically lick his lips with Peter’s hand so close to his mouth.

With a hungry growl, Tony eyed the boy with a playful but dark look in his eyes. However, their little game was interrupted by Steve who knocked on the door and entered, looking a little baffled. Tony was about to explain, but then Peter made a squeak.

Peter’s eyes got wider and wider, and his heart pounded in his chest as Doctor Stark growled at him darkly. Peter whimpered with fear, just as the man was about to lift his fingers to his mouth, but at the last second Peter heard the door open. He whipped his head around to see Rogers standing there, looking a little confused. Instantly, Peter cried out. “St-Stevie! Help! The wolf, he’s gonna... he’s gonna /eat/ me, don’t let Mr. Wolf eat me! Please, he said he won’t let me go!” He pleaded, beginning to struggle with a renewed vigour as Rogers watched them interact.

Meeting Steve’s eyes for just a short second, Tony let Peter go and watched him dash over to the nurse who opened his arms. ”Hey, hey, it’s all right. Your brave hunter is here to save you!” Steve said with a smile and laughed.

The second Peter felt Doctor Stark’s grip become lax, he squirmed away from him and ran to the nurse, instantly clinging to him tightly and burying his face in the man’s scrubs. “He tried to eat my fingers! He’s an evil wolf!” Peter squealed, turning his head out of the man’s clothes so he could peer at the Doctor, who was now stood at the other end of the room with a grin on his face. “Can’t get me now, wolfie!” He said tauntingly, sticking his tongue out playfully at the doctor.

Seeing how open and relaxed the boy was in his regression, Steve went ahead and picked the boy up into his arms, holding him on his hip. And not just to play along and protect him from the Big Bad Wolf, but to give him an experience that people cared about him. ”I won’t let him get you, buddy! The wolf is going home hungry today!” Steve played along and Tony raised his hands in defeat and made a sad whine. ”Oh! What am I to do? I will starve to death now!”

Peter gladly let the nurse pick him up, swinging his arms to wrap them around his neck to hold himself up. However, he gasped when Doctor Stark spoke. “/Death/?! He can’t... he can’t die! We can’t let the wolfie die! Wh-What are we gonna do?” He cried out, looking over at the doctor who had an exaggerated pout on his face.

”We have to make him a vegetarian!” Steve suggested, to which Tony howled dramatically again. ”No, please, I want little pinky fingers! Not cucumber and carrots, please!”

Peter squealed with laughter, kicking his legs out and curling his hands into Rogers’ scrubs as he did so. He turned and stuck his tongue out at Doctor Stark once more, grinning widely at him like it was the easiest thing in the world. “‘s okay, wolfie! You’ll be okay!” He said reassuringly, looking up at the nurse. “What’re we doin’ now, Stevie?”

”I think a snack is in order, now that your session with the Doc is almost over. How does that sound?” Steve said, bouncing the boy in his arms as Tony came over to stand in front of them. ”I think a snack with Steve sounds great. What do you think, Peter?”

“A snack sounds good! But... I don’t wanna leave, we were just getting to the good part!” Peter whined, looking over to Doctor Stark for guidance. He reached his hands out to grab for him, any part of him, and his face crumpled a little as he realised this was their last session.

The doctor took the boy’s hand once more and squeezed it lovingly. ”I know, Peter, but that is just how it is, sadly. I’ll see you one last time tomorrow before your Aunt picks you up tomorrow, all right? Steve will come fetch you.” The doctor explained, once more giving the boy some sort of schedule and something to look forward to.

Peter wasn't convinced, but he nodded anyway. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave Stark behind.


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter meets doctor stephen strange.

Peter sat nervously outside Doctor Strange’s office, twiddling his thumbs and kicking his feet back and forth under the chair he was sat on. Doctor Stark had promised that this guy was going to be nice and friendly, and that it would be okay, but Peter was still hesitant. The idea of doing this all again with someone brand new made Peter nervous, and when the door opened and the man stepped out, Peter couldn’t help but gulp.

”And you must be Peter.” Stephen said with a smile, extending his hand to shake Peter’s. The doctor was dressed smartly, but not overly so, in a blue shirt, black slacks and some nice shoes. ”I’m Stephen Strange. Why don’t you come on in?” The doctor suggested, gesturing with his hand for the boy to enter his office.

Peter nodded, taking the man’s hand and shaking it a couple of times before dropping his arm. His mouth was dry and his throat had completely closed up from nerves, so he followed the man into his office silently. Instantly, he noticed the box of Lego sat in the corner of the room, and he couldn’t help a soft smile at the sight of it. He turned a couple of times, before sinking into the seat of the couch that sat in the near centre of the room.

Sitting down opposite his newest patient, Stephen took a notepad onto his lap. He noticed instantly that the boy had freshly washed hair and clean clothes, which was a good sign. ”So, like I said, I’m Stephen Strange. I am a psychiatrist and mostly I practice age regression therapy, but also other types of therapy. I got the referral from Doctor Stark, but I’d also like to hear it from you, in your own words. Why are you here? And what can I help you with?”

Peter squirmed uncomfortably on the seat when Strange asked him why he was there. He had the notes, couldn’t he read it himself? Peter opened his mouth to answer, hesitated, then shut it again. This happened a number of times, making Peter look like a drowning fish, until he made a frustrated noise and just stared down at his lap. “I... You know why I’m here, sir, I don’t... I can’t...” he mumbled, cracking his knuckles nervously in his lap.

”I don’t think I do, actually. So, help me out here. Tell me why you’re here.” Stephen prompted again. ”Take some time to think.” He instructed further, noticing how the boy grew nervous, but that was very common among new patients for at least the first few sessions.

Peter’s face only darkened, and he couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. Really? The man was gonna act stupid? Whatever, that wasn’t his problem. “I’m here cos Stark wants me to be here.” He said finally, crossing his arms over his chest. If it were up to him, he would be back with Doctor Stark, playing with him, but that wasn’t an option.

The doctor nodded and continued. ”Doctor Stark, yes. What did you do with him while you were in his care?” Like he had said, he had Stark’s extensive notes to go on and knew quite a bit about his patient already, but he still wanted to hear it from himself.

“Uh...” Peter sat a little further back on the couch, bringing his legs up to cross them on the seat. “We would... play with Lego’s, ‘n Hot Wheels... sometimes he’d let me draw stuff...” Peter didn’t mention the game they had played together on the last day. That was something he only wanted to do with Doctor Stark, not this... other guy.

”Legos and Hot Wheels, I see.” The doctor nodded. ”How would you describe your sessions with Doctor Stark? And the overall stay at the facility.” He asked further.

Peter blushed at how stupid this whole thing sounded coming out of his mouth. Toy cars? How was Strange taking him seriously right now? Peter paused again to think. “The... the hospital was shit. But... Doctor Stark wasn’t so bad, by the end of it anyway.” He said, shrugging with one shoulder and looking back down at his lap.

The doctor scribbled some quick notes on what the boy said and nodded along before looking up again. ”Tell me more, Peter.” Stephen instructed

This was getting ridiculous. Peter narrowed his eyes at the doctor sat opposite him, clearly unimpressed. “You have the notes from Doctor Stark /right there/. Is reading an issue for you?” He huffed, uncrossing his arms to put his hands on his lap, where his fists began to clench and unclench periodically. “Must’ve been hard to get a PhD without knowing how to read, Doctor Strange.” He said bitingly, his eyes drifting away from the man’s face and towards the door of the office.

The doctor raised one eyebrow just a fraction, but otherwise kept a more or less blank and professional face. Placing the notepad on the table next to him, Stephen scooted a bit forwards in his seat and spoke a little gentler. ”Peter, I am here to help you. And to help you, I need to get to know you. The notes that Doctor Stark sent are just his interpretation of you. It would be unprofessional of me if I only took those in consideration. That is why I am asking you. Why are you here and how can I help you?” The doctor asked again

Peter became visibly startled when Doctor Strange proceeded to lean in and speak more gently to him. He was expecting the man to get angry, maybe to ask him to leave at once, so to see him continue to remain professional even though Peter had just insulted him made Peter feel a little embarrassed. He could feel himself slipping a little bit as he brought the tip of his thumb up to his mouth, not quite putting it in there yet but just resting it between his lips. “Uhm... ‘m here cos Aunt May was worried about me, ‘n said I needed to see someone after...” Peter paused. “I wanna do more of the stuff I did with D-Doctor Stark.” He finally admitted.

”That’s a start, that’s good, Peter.” The doctor praised and sat back in his seat again, gesturing to the box of legos in the corner of the room. ”Would you like to build something while we talk?”

Peter glanced over at the box, then back at Doctor Strange, before nodding. He hesitated before he got up, wordlessly waiting for approval that it was okay to get the box, and then brought the crate over and placed it between the two seats. Instantly, Peter was sat on the floor and his hand was rifling through the box, while he peered in to see what was inside.

For a moment, Stephen just watched the teenager search through the box and let him start on something before he spoke up. ”You played with legos with Stark. Isn’t that correct?” At the little nod, the doctor added. ”What did you build together?”

Peter started to slowly build the car-rocketship that he had first made when he did this therapy with Doctor Stark. Over time, they had changed the design to make it look cooler, and Peter could basically build it with his eyes closed at this point. “Uhm... usually just... cars ‘n stuff. ‘m not good at building anything else.” He said, huffing a quiet laugh to himself as he built.

”Stark wrote that you built some amazing cars in his care. And what else... a rocketship? Correct?” The doctor asked, having practically memorised everything the other psychiatrist had written about the boy in front of him.

 “He said they were that good?” Peter asked incredulously, looking up at the man with wide eyes. “I never thought they were that great, they... they started out as just lumps of bricks with wheels attached to ‘em.” He said quietly, looking back down to see what he was doing with the work in progress. “‘n yeah, I can build rocket ships. We’d always talk about... where we’d go in ‘em.”

”And where would you go?” Again, Stephen knew already, based on notes he had got, but he wanted to hear it from Peter.

 “All over the place.” Peter said, now attaching the wheels onto the car-ship he was making. Usually at this point, he would have offered the creation to Stark for him to add stuff onto it if he was here, but he didn’t trust Strange all that much, so he kept the creation close to his chest. “Mainly the moon, cos it’s closest. It’s still super far away, but... not as far as, like, Mars.”

”The moon, huh? That’s a really long journey, yes, but Mars is even further. Would you travel alone or perhaps bring someone with you?” Stephen suggested, trying to get to who Peter had in his life.

Peter answered almost immediately, but didn’t look up from his spaceship. “Uhm... my best friend Ned. He likes space.” He said shortly. _Doctor Stark too_ , his subconscious whispered, and Peter frowned. He was a _Doctor_ , he couldn’t go to space! Peter was almost done with his ship, and a significant part of him just wanted to be finished with this session entirely so he could go home.

”Are you and Ned in the same classes at school?” Stephen asked, eyeing the lego creation and figured that he was almost done with it. They still had 20 minutes left, leaving the doctor still some time to get to some important questions.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, we are. Have been since kindergarten.” He said, peering closely at the ship and deciding that it was finished. He held it up to show the Doctor, a small yet triumphant close lipped smile on his face.

”You’ve known each other a long time then.” Seeing that the boy was holding up his finished creation, Stephen scooted forwards in his seat. ”Can I have a look?” The doctor asked, gesturing to the lego creation.

Peter froze. Let him look? It was just a Lego ship but... part of him didn’t _want_ Strange to touch it, or look at it. This was what he and Doctor Stark did together, not Strange. However, the comment that Stark once made about how nice boys always share pushed Peter to hand the ship over slowly.

Taking the ship, Stephen turned it in his hand as he studied it. ”That looks really cool, Peter. I love the detail with the little window. Well done.” The doctor praised with a smile as he handed the lego back.

Despite how much he was trying to appear disinterested, Peter couldn’t help a proud smile at Strange’s compliments. “The windows so that people can look out into space when they’re going to the moon.” He said quietly, taking the creation back and cradling it in his arms.

”I see. You really thought this through, didn’t you? Clever boy.” The doctor said with a smile.

Peter’s smile faded a little bit, and his eyes darted up to Doctor Strange’s face for a split second before dropping back down again. This session wasn’t the same without Doctor Stark. Strange was nice and everything, but... Peter didn’t want to come back here again. He decided on it there and then, he wouldn’t be coming back here.

”Peter, I still have some important questions that I need you to answer for me, concerning your physical health.” The doctor said, seeing that their time was up in 10 minutes by glancing down at his watch.

 “Y-Yeah, okay. I can do that.” Peter nodded, kneeling up to sit back on the couch with the Lego creation still in his hands. He didn’t know what Doctor Strange was going to ask, but figured it couldn’t be that bad.

With a nod, Stephen locked down at the papers in his lap and flickered through a few. ”When you were admitted, your weight was 110 pounds. And then you were weighed again before you left and had gained 6 pounds. I want you to keep doing what Doctor Stark told you to when it comes to your eating, all right?” The doctor stressed. ”And he also prescribed you some medication. Which ones?” The doctor knew already, but wanted to check with Peter again.

Peter nodded, fiddling with the rocketship in his hands as Doctor Strange asked him the physical questions. He listed the medications correctly, taking a few seconds to think about it. "What happens if... if I don't take my medication? Or if I don't eat properly?"

”If you don’t take your medication, you may experience some mood swings. That would cause a set back in your progress, so I highly recommend that you keep taking them. However, if you experience some side effects, then you can tell me about it and we can try another combination, okay?” The doctor said before moving onto the next topic. ”As for your eating, if you stop doing that, you may have to be admitted again if your condition becomes life threatening. Same advice here, don’t stop eating and follow Stark and my advice.”

”Do you have any other questions? I’ll be more than happy to answer them.” The doctor assured with a smile.

 “Are these sessions gonna be every day, like they were in the hospital?” Peter asked, tipping all the Lego bricks back into the box. He didn’t return the smile, just watched the man with wary eyes.

”We can start with three sessions a week, and then see how that works and whether you feel like you need more or less.” The doctor explained. ”How does that sound?”

 “Three sessions a week... Okay. That sounds fine.” Skip them. Skip them. Skip them. Peter didn’t want to do this, not without Doctor Stark. He simply nodded in agreement with Doctor Strange, avoiding his gaze entirely.

”Okay. Is there anything else you want to say or ask before we wrap things up for today?” The doctor asked finally.

Peter paused. This wasn’t right, Doctor Strange was just doing his job, and Peter was sabotaging it on purpose. But... he needed Doctor Stark. He missed him /so much/, and it was almost scary how much he needed him. Peter fiddled with the laces on his shoe, not quite used to them after he had been wearing velcro sneakers in the hospital.

After a moment of silence, Stephen repeated. ”Peter, is there anything else?”

 “Huh?” Peter was shaken out of his stupor by the man’s question, and looked up at him. “Oh, no, no... I’m fine. Nothing else.” He said timidly, tearing his gaze away from the Doctor a second later.

”In that case, here’s our next session.” The doctor said and scribbled a time and date for the day after tomorrow and handed the little note to Peter. ”Until then, keep in mind what I said about taking your medication and eating enough, all right?”

Peter took the paper, peering at the date and time of the appointment. He would take the advice, sure, but he wouldn’t be coming back. He moved to stand up from the couch and head out, mumbling a “Bye, Doctor.” as he left.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's back to square one, but there's hope.

After that first meeting with Doctor Strange, Peter had thrown the note with the time and date of his next appointment in the trash. He then headed home and lied to May, telling her that it was fine and they didn't need him to come to the sessions any more. She had remained suspicious, and Peter retreated into his bedroom, where he remained for the next week and a half. He was barely eating, and he hadn't taken his medication at all, instead choosing to remain in bed and determinedly "not" think about Doctor Stark all day.

May was worried to say the least. She felt like she had tried everything and she was really running out of options. Chewing on her fingernails anxiously, May approached Peter’s bedroom door hesitantly. But things could not continue like this, not again, and she knocked on the door. ”Peter, baby, are you up?”

Peter's chest hurt at how... sad May sounded. He hated that things had ended up like this, but he couldn't do anything, especially not now. He coughed feebly to clear his throat, and his voice wavered as he called out. "Y-Yeah, 'm awake." He said, loud enough for his aunt to hear. He rolled over in bed, looking at the laptop that was open but asleep on his desk. He had used it to send a couple of messages to Ned, but other than that he had remained in bed.

Entering the bedroom, May immediately noticed the thick and heavy air in the room. The small space that was Peter’s bedroom was a mess, with the desk scattered with bowls of fruit, half finished smoothies and shakes and a few water bottles. The floor was covered with clothes and some textbooks. Opening the window a little and pulling back the blinds to let in some sunlight, May sighed a little before sitting down my Peter on his bed. ”Baby, you all right? Come on, you can talk to me.”

Peter immediately winced at the sunlight that streamed through the window and hit him in the face. He groaned, bringing his hands up to rub the heels of his palms against his eyes to clear them of sleep dust, and cracked his eyelids open a little as May sat down on his mattress with him. "I-I'm _fine_ , May. You... You wouldn't understand." He said glumly, turning back over in bed to hide his face.

”You know who would understand? Your new psychiatrist. When are you seeing him again?” May tried. She had really been comforted by the news that Peter had someone he could talk to often after being released. But, the boy hadn’t left his bed for days and that worried her.

Peter sighed. "I don't know. I... I didn't like him. He wasn't as good as Doctor Stark." He said bluntly, bunching his blankets up in his fists and pulling them over his head. "I miss him." Peter mumbled quietly, almost too quiet for May to hear.

”You’ve only seen him once, silly!” May tried being cheerfully and even poked her nephew in the ribs, but that only seemed to upset him further. Sitting back a little, May continued. ”You gotta give it some more time, Petey, and you’ll grow to like him too.”

Peter whined when May poked him in the ribs, squirming away from her touch and towards the wall, which his bed was up against. "I dunno, May... He just..." Peter turned over to finally look at his aunt, brushing the hair out of his face. "I liked Doctor Stark. He wasn't the same. He was..." Better. That's what Peter wanted to say, but that was mean towards Doctor Strange.

”Oh, baby...” May said softly, bringing a hand up to squeeze and rub at Peter’s shoulder. Before she could say anything else, a phone suddenly started ringing and seeing how Peter didn’t make a move to pick it up, May did and looked at the screen which read ‘Stephen Strange’. ”Peter, you have to take this.”

Peter didn't move away from May's touch this time, just smiled at her weakly. When the phone rang, however, Peter flinched noticeably and ducked under the covers. "No! D-Don't answer it. I-I'm not here, I can't..." He said, his voice becoming a little more panicked. "I don't wanna go to Doctor Strange's sessions any more! I want Doctor Stark back!" He cried, tears beginning to make their way down his cheeks, dripping onto his pillowcase.

”Peter, please...” But May’s tone was far from convincing and making her mind up quickly, she picked up the phone and stepped out of Peter’s bedroom to talk to the doctor.

"No, no, May, w-wait!" Peter cried, sitting up as much as he could and reaching his hand out to try and grab the phone off of her. He was too weak, and he could only watch hopelessly as his aunt left the room to take the call. "Fuck..." He whimpered, collapsing back against his pillow and rolling over to hide his face once more.

After nearly 15 minutes on the phone with Strange, May came back and placed Peter’s phone on the desk and sat back down on the bed. ”Peter, Doctor Strange said that you haven’t gone to any of the sessions since your first and he said you haven’t called nor texted him back. What’s going on?”

By the time Aunt May had come back into the room, Peter had completely retreated into his duvet, the top of his head being the only part of him visible. “I said I don’t wanna talk about it...” Peter said sadly, curling up into a smaller ball than before and squeezing his eyes shut. “Can I be left alone, please?” He asked, trying his best to not sound so pathetic.

With a little sigh, May got up from the bed. Just like Strange had explained, there was very little she nor he could do because Peter was over 18. Peter had to take the initiative himself now when seeking help and May turned back to look at her nephew before leaving the room. ”Dinner will be ready in an hour. We could sit on the couch and watch a movie.” She suggested, knowing that Peter wouldn’t want to

Peter shifted in bed to get more comfortable. “Thanks, May.” He said quietly, not acknowledging the offer to watch a movie with her. Deep down he felt bad, so fucking bad for treating her like this, but he didn’t have the energy to interact with anyone or anything right now. He shut his eyes once more, and from the exhaustion of the day’s events, he dozed off into a fitful sleep.

Another week passed and Peter only got worse. He refuses to go see his new psychiatrist and ate less and less each day. He was starting to look as ghostly pale and weak as he was when he was first brought to the facility, but May was unsure if her nephew would go there a second time. Searching online, May found the

Peter coughed pathetically as he laid in bed for the second week in a row. He didn’t have the energy to get out of bed any more, due to not eating enough, and so he was starting to get weaker and weaker as each day passed. Although he was awake, he made no attempt to open his eyes, simply rolling over to face the nearby wall of his room.

Knocking gently on Peter’s bedroom door, May entered with her phone held to her chest. ”Peter, baby...” She whispered into the dark room, feeling her voice almost quiver with tears seeing the state that her nephew was in. Pulling herself together, she spoke a little louder. ”Doctor Stark is on the phone. He’d like to talk to you.”

At the mention of Stark’s name, Peter’s eyes shot open. With his best efforts, he turned over and sat up in bed, meeting his aunts eyes with his own wide ones. “H-He is? Are... Are you sure?” He whispered, struggling to get his voice much louder than that. Already, he began to tremble, and bit down on his bottom lip hard to stop himself from bursting into tears.

 “Yeah, he is. Here.“ May said and offered the phone, trying to appear as stern as possible to force her beloved nephew to get the help that he so badly needed. Or she might end up at the facility herself soon from worrying so much.

Peter hesitated, his face scrunched up with nerves, before he took the phone with trembling hands. He cradled it to his ear, taking a sideways glance at May before speaking down the receiver quietly. “H-Hello?”

May left the room with a little smile. ”Hello, Peter.” The doctor greeted softly, although he was also starting to worry about Peter due to his weak voice. ”Your Aunt called me and said she was very worried about you. Tell me what’s going on.” Tony said a little more firmly

When Peter heard Doctor Stark’s voice, all of the tension in his body and the pent-up emotion from the last few weeks leaked out of him, and before he knew it, he was crying down the phone. Not loud, harsh sobs, but gentle cries as he sniffled pathetically. “D-Daddy...” He said quietly, hiccuping gently. “I- I miss you, a-and I don’t like the... the new man, he’s... I wanna be back with _you_ , Daddy.” He whined.

Blinking a couple of times, Tony sat up straighter in his office chair. He hadn’t expected such a fast regression, but went with it smoothly nonetheless. ”All right, buddy, we’ll see if we can arrange that, all right? But first you have to answer some questions for me? Can you be good and do that for me?” The doctor asked, speaking with a softer voice now but just firm enough to persuade his former patient into giving the much needed information

Peter nodded to himself, but then remembered he was in a phone call. “Y-Yeah, I can.” He said quietly, curling up tighter in bed as he waited for the Doctor to ask his questions. The doctor’s baritone voice soothed Peter beyond belief, and he smiled weakly to himself as the man’s tone washed over him like waves over sand.

”Okay, good boy.” Tony said and grabbed a pen to note down whatever Peter said. ”Have you been taking your medication everyday?” He had already got quite a detailed description of the situation from the boy’s aunt, but he wanted to hear it from the boy himself. “Have you been eating at least twice a day?”

 “Uhm... yes?” He said, lying through his teeth. After a few heartbeats pause, he sighed. “No, I haven’t.” He mumbled, chewing on his bottom lip once more. He brought his thumb up to his lips as well, slotting the tip of his thumb between them gently.

Scribbling down some notes, Tony started automatically calculating Peter’s weight in his head and guessed that he was even skinnier than when he was first admitted. ”Okay. When was the last time you went outside?”

Peter paused, thinking it over in his head. “I... don’t remember.” He admitted, glancing at the window of his bedroom that currently had the blinds drawn tightly shut, so that only small specks of sunlight could get through.

”All right. Have you been to see Doctor Strange?” The doctor asked and waited for the teenager to answer

There was a long pause before Peter spoke again. “No.” He said tearfully, rolling over in bed to face the wall once more. “I didn’t like him, Daddy, he’s... he’s not you.”

”I see.” The doctor nodded, thinking to himself that there was no way Strange did a bad job. So, the only other explanation was that Peter had grown too attached to Tony. The doctor wanted to encourage his former patient to go see his new psychiatrist and give it some time, but he had a strong feeling he wouldn’t and only made his condition worse. ”Tell me how you’ve been feeling lately, Peter.”

 “I...” Peter didn’t know where to start. All his thoughts were hopelessly fuzzy and jumbled in his head, and he couldn’t pick any of them out. “‘m sad, cos... cos I don’t get to see you any more, and... and you were helping me get better ‘n now I’m just... like this and I hate it. I don’t want a new... new person, I want Daddy back.” He said glumly, his regression almost in full swing.

As he listened to Peter’s description of his mental state, Tony looked over the keywords he had noted down. The situation seemed serious, to say the least, and the doctor came to a decision. ”All right, Peter, listen to me. And be a big boy when you answer me. Your condition is serious and you need medical attention right away. Do you consent to coming back to the facility? Or shall I call an ambulance? Then you would be taken care of at the hospital.”

 “Uhm... yeah. I... I c-consent.” He said, trying to sound as mature as possible when he said it. In reality, it scared him, but if the Doctor said it was needed, then... he’d do it. “Will you... will you stay on the phone?” He asked hopefully. He knew he’d be seeing him soon, but he was already feeling nervous.

”I can do that, yes.” The doctor said, hoping the boy heard the smile in his voice. ”Now, get your aunt to pack a bag for you and drive you here as soon as possible. You can pack some toys if you wish, so that you’re comfy here.” Tony added

“O-Okay.” Peter said to the Doctor, before calling out for his aunt. “May! M-May! D-Doctor Stark we have to go to the facility, now!” His aunt immediately entered, and Peter asked her to pack a bag. The relief on her face was unmissable as she began to pack a bag for Peter’s stay at the facility. While she did that, he mumbled on the phone to Doctor Stark about which toys he was going to bring. “Oh, w-wait, can I bring Spidey? He’s... he’s a stuffed spider, I’ve had him since I was a kid.” He asked, cradling the phone to his ear as he looked for Spidey under his bedsheets.

”Of course. He a trusty companion of yours?” The doctor asked, trying to keep it lighthearted at least for now.

 “Mhm. I sleep with him every night, he’s super fluffy.” Peter said quietly, blushing a little bit. It was so /easy/ to talk to Doctor Stark like this, and just having this conversation was enough to calm Peter down.

”Yeah, does Spidey protect you at night? Or maybe you protect him?” The doctor continued while at the same time alerting Rogers and Barnes by text to be ready to help out when Peter arrived.

"Uhm... he protects me." Peter hummed, but was interrupted by May knocking on the door and telling him that the car was ready. With all his might, he stood up from his bed, clutching his phone in one hand and the stuffed spider in the other, and hobbled out of his room. Aunt May took his arm and helped him downstairs, before piling him into the car. He hadn't even gotten changed out of his pyjamas, but he didn't find it in him to care as May began driving them to the facility. "May's drivin' me now... We're on our waaaay..." Peter cooed dazedly, hugging Spidey close to his chest.

”That’s good. You sound tired, little one. Why don’t you take a little nap and then we’ll see each other when you wake up. Yeah?” The doctor suggested, hoping that Peter could bare being off the phone with him with the promise that they would see each other soon.

"M'kay... Bye, wolfie..." Peter said, using his nickname for Stark once again before he hung up and let his head slip to rest against the car window. He drifted off quickly after that, exhaustion setting in as May drove him to the facility.


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter returns to the facility.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wahey, tenth chapter!! thank you so much to everyone who's given kudos, commented, bookmarked, or just been keeping up with the fic! the support means a hell of a lot x

”The Parker boy is coming back?” Barnes asked as he, Tony and Rogers gathered in the lobby area. ”I almost want to say I’m happy to see him. He was quite sweet when he started opening up.” Rogers said, but they all knew that it wasn’t good when a patient returned to them. Looking out through the big windows, Tony saw a car pull up to the entrance. ”I’ll go meet him and then you get him on the gurney.” The doctor said to the two nurses and went outside to meet Peter and his aunt

May gently shook him awake when they arrived, and Peter gazed up at the building through the car window. When he was first brought here, it was in an ambulance, where he was passed out from malnutrition. Now, he was almost at that point, but had just enough stress to point at Doctor Stark, who was approaching the car, and mumble “Wolfie!” under his breath. He saw the nurses behind him, not that he particularly cared about them, but his heart swelled as he watched Doctor Stark get closer.

Opening the car door and giving a quick hello to May who stepped out of the car, the doctor crouched down to look at Peter in the passenger seat. He looked just like what Tony had feared, with sunken eyes, greyish skin and heavy looking limbs. The doctor didn’t let any of his worry show on his face, however, and smiled when he met Peter’s eyes. ”Hey, there. Took you and Spidey long enough to get here.” He tried joking, extending an arm to help the boy out of the car

Peter huffed in response, sticking his tongue out playfully at the doctor before taking grip of his arm. He was weak, but tried his best to hold on as Doctor Stark guided him to the gurney and helped him onto it. He even offered a small wave to the nurses who were standing by. He clutched Spidey tighter to his chest, fiddling with the stuffies legs as Rogers and Barnes carried him inside.

”Barnes will be right back with some information, Ms Parker.” Tony informed quickly before they headed inside with a very sick looking Peter. As they walked to the med ward, Tony began explaining some of what was going to happen to Peter who was laying on the gurney. ”Peter, we are heading to the medical ward now, okay? You need a saline drip and a banana bag and then I’m going to take a look at you. Things are gonna move quickly, but you just lay back and relax, all right? We’ll take care of you.”

All the medical talk made Peter’s head spin a little bit, but he trusted that Doctor Stark knew what he was doing, so he didn’t object. “P-Promise?” He said quietly, energy slowly seeping out of him every minute. The gurney wasn’t very comfortable, and Peter shuffled as best as he could to get comfy on it before they arrived at the med ward.

”Promise.” The doctor assured with a smile before he turned to the nurses. ”Let’s get started.” And then Peter was lifted up on one of the hospital beds. All three of the staff members snapped on some gloves before they began, with Rogers busying himself with a blood sample and Barnes went to fetch the bags of fluid and liquid nutrition. ”Follow my finger, Peter.” Tony instructed, keeping one hand with a lifted finger in front of the boy while using the other to cradle the boy’s head.

Peter watched as the men began to hurry about, preparing this, that and the other while the boy simply laid there like a potato. He blinked sluggishly as he tried to follow the man’s finger as best he could. “Is there... Is there a point to this?” He asked, not unkindly, just out of pure curiosity.

”Yes, Peter, we have to examine you to find out how you are doing so that we can give the right medication and such.” The doctor said, picking up a penlight from the breast pocket of his lab coat and flicking the light in both of Peter’s eyes. Humming in approval, he put the penlight back and took both of Peter’s hands in his. ”Can you squeeze my hands?”

Peter winced a little bit when the light was shone in his eyes, but didn’t make a fuss as Doctor Stark continued to check him over. When he took Peter’s hands, Peter’s heart skipped a beat and he felt like he was melting a little bit, but he tried his best to squeeze the man’s hands like he asked.

”A little harder.” The doctor prompted as Barnes returned with the IV kit and began preparing.

Peter squeezed even harder, too distracted by his efforts to notice that Barnes had reappeared. “Wh-When I’m better, can we... can we play wolves again?” Peter asked timidly, wiggling his feet under the bedsheets. He liked doing that with Doctor Stark the most.

”We can do that, yes, but then you have to be good for us and let us make you better.” Tony said with a smile before grabbing a stethoscope and sitting by Peter on the bed. ”Sit up for me, buddy.” But seeing how weak he was, Tony and Rogers helped him up while Barnes grabbed the boy’s hand to get the IV needle in and the fluids flowing. ”Take some deep breaths for me.“

Peter pulled an exaggerated pout. “Being good is _boring_...” He mumbled, but squirmed to sit up in the bed. When he was hoisted up by the doctor and Nurse Rogers, he smiled a little as a thank you. He looked away from the needle in Barnes’ hand, becoming a little nervous at the sight of it, but he followed Stark’s instructions to take some deep breaths while his other hand clutched onto Spidey.

”Being good is boring? How so, buddy?” Rogers chimed in with a chuckle, stroking the boy’s shoulder as he helped him sit up right as the doctor listened to his heart and lungs. Meanwhile, Barnes got the needle in and secured it with medical tape before attaching the tubing to it so that the saline was flowing.

 “It just _is_... ‘s fun to get reactions out of people sometimes... not everyone can be a Mr. Goody Two Shoes like you, Stevie...” Peter mumbled as he was hooked up to the saline tube. He leaned ever so slightly into the touch on his shoulder, grateful for it while all this medical nonsense was occurring.

”Mr. Goody Two Shoes! That’s a good one.” Barnes laughed, elbowing the other nurse in the ribs before moving onto getting another IV needle and get the banana bag flowing too. Putting his stethoscope around his neck, Tony reached over the bed to get the nasal cannula, tucking the tubing into the boy’s nose and behind his ears. ”It’s good to see that your humour is still intact, Peter.” The doctor commented with a chuckle, grabbing the blood pressure cuff and wrapping it around Peter’s upper arm.

 “Don’t think you’re o-off the hook, B-Bucky, you’re _married_  to Mr. Goody Two Shoes.” Peter giggles, holding still so that the doctor can work the cannula into his nose and attach the blood pressure cuff around his arm. “T-Takes more than this to stop me m-making jokes, Da- Doctor.” He said, correcting himself on the title. By now he didn’t really have a problem with calling Stark Daddy, but doing it in front of others was a bit of an issue.

All three of the staff members laughed at that. ”We’re almost done now, Peter.” Tony said with a smile, leaving the cuff on for easier measurements later. ”Just gonna feel your tummy a bit and then you can have a rest, all right?” The doctor explained, lifting up Peter’s t-shirt and pushing his pyjama pants down a little. ”Don’t tense up, but tell me if it hurts.”

Peter nodded dutifully at the instructions, but couldn't help flinching a little bit when Doctor Stark moved his clothing to reveal his stomach. He couldn't put a reason on why it made him feel a little flustered, but it was probably just because it meant Doctor Stark was seeing how skinny he had gotten. He looked away from the man, clutching Spidey as tight as he could to his chest and looking up at the nurses for comfort.

”You’ve been so good for us.” Steve said with a wide smile, putting one of his gloved hands in the boy’s curls. Meanwhile, the doctor took his time with palpating the boy’s stomach, feeling each of his organs for any abnormalities. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, besides very visible ribs and hipbones, Tony pulled the boy’s clothes back down. ”There, we are all done now with the exam now, but Barnes is just gonna hook you up to some monitors.” The doctor said as the nurse began attaching electrodes to the boy’s chest

Peter smiled gently at the praise, tilting his head back to feel Rogers' hand in his curls. As Doctor Stark checked his organs, each new poke to his stomach made him giggle and squirm slightly. "S-Sorry... I said I was ticklish..." When Doctor Stark was done, and Barnes started to put electrodes onto his chest, Peter gazed down at his spider stuffie and fiddled with its legs, wiggling them about to distract himself.

Clipping a pulse oximeter to one of Peter’s fingers, they all stepped back a little now that the boy was taken care of. Now they would just have to wait for the fluids to do their work and bring some more colour to the boy’s cheeks. ”All done now, Peter.” Tony said, pulling his gloves off and handing them to the nurses as they cleared all the supplies away. Sitting down by his bedside again, Tony gave the boy a smile. ”How are you feeling now?”

"We're done? Yay!" Peter chirped, sitting back against the pillows and watching as the nurses cleared the equipment and the supplies away. "I... I still feel gross, but... 'm not so sad any more." He said, offering the man a soft smile. "And 'm glad I brought Spidey along." He added, looking down and stroking the fur of Spidey's body.

”That’s good. And I’m glad that you brought him too. He’s a handsome guy isn’t he?” The doctor chuckled as he looked at the toy. ”So, the plan now is that you’ll stay here until you regain some of your strength, okay?”

"Here as in... in bed? In the ward?" He asked, looking around the room. It was fairly plain and clinical, and Peter knew he was going to get bored already. "But that's gonna be _dull_ , 'm gonna be all by myself!" He looked back down at his stuffie. "Except for Spidey..." He said, grabbing it by the legs and wiggling it about suddenly, lifting it towards Doctor Stark's face. "He's gonna get ya!" He said, grinning playfully.

With a laugh, Tony put a hand up to stop the boy from pushing the toy into his face. ”Yes, you have to stay here for at least two days. But, I will check up on you often, as will Mr Goody Two Shoes and- what’s your nickname for Bucky?”

"Uhm..." Peter dropped Spidey onto his lap, fiddling with his legs as he thought about it. "I usually call them... Tweedledum 'n Tweedledee cos... cos of Alice in Wonderland, you know?" He said, trying his best to hold back a grin. "Two days? That's so long! You promise you'll come 'n visit?" He said, holding his pinky out.

”Pinky promise.” Holding his pinky out and wrapping it around Peter’s, Tony shook his hand once to seal the deal. ”I’m your doctor after all, Peter, it is my job to take care of you.”

"Right, right..." Peter mumbled, settling back into the pillow and looking around the room once more. "What happens after the two days? Do I stay in that other room?"

”Then you’ll get a new room and we will talk about a plan of treatment together. How does that sound?” The doctor asked, picking up Spidey and using it to tickle Peter’s nose with it’s fur.

Peter nodded silently, but he quickly began to squeal with laughter as Doctor Stark tickled his nose with Spidey's fur. "N-No, Daddy, 'm ticklish! Stop!" He giggled, trying to bat the man away from him. He didn't really want him to stop, he loved when they play-fought.

Tony continued teasing the boy for a little while, until he tucked the toy into his arms. ”All right, all right. We have to calm down now, though. You need to rest, Peter, and I have to go talk to your aunt.” The doctor said, standing up from the bed and taking a quick glance at Peter’s sats.

Peter pouted glumly when Doctor Stark got up, his gaze dropping down to his lap. "Fine... Can you tell her I'll be okay?" He asked nervously, quickly looking up at the doctor before looking back at his lap again.

”Of course. Anything else you want me to tell her?” The doctor asked, pulling the blanket up higher to Peter’s chest.

"Tell her... uhm... I dunno." Peter said, lifting his arms a bit so that the doctor could pull the blanket up his chest. He pulled Spidey up with him and curled up under the covers. "Just tell her I'll be alright. Thanks, Doctor." He said quietly, shutting his eyes so he could get some rest.

With a little smile and pat to the boy’s head, the doctor went to leave the ward to find May and explain the situation to her briefly.


	11. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter allows himself to be cared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want to contact me or rafni with ideas, support, or anything else, we both have tumblrs!  
> rafni: professional-benaddict.tumblr.com  
> me: trufaxz.tumblr.com

After a couple of hours, Peter slowly began to stir from his nap. He lifted his head to find the room empty, with the monitors to the side of his bed beeping quietly and his heartbeat being shown on the screen next to him. He squinted at it, watching the electric line of pixels rise and fall, before turning back to the other side to grab hold of Spidey. Wait. Where was Spidey? He panicked, sitting up in bed as best he could to look around for him.

Bucky had already checked on Peter twice since he fell asleep, but this time he found the boy wide awake and looking distressed. ”Hey, there. What’s up, buddy?” The nurse said, walking to his bedside swiftly in case he tried to get out of bed, which could result in IVs being torn out.

When he heard the door open, he flinched, but seeing it was Bucky made him calm down a little. "B-Bucky! My... my spider, he's... I think he's on the floor, and I c-can't reach him!" Peter said, making grabby hands towards the floor. He didn't  _mean_  to regress, but slowly his thumb reached his mouth while his other hand gestured towards the floor.

”Oh, no! How did he end up on the floor?” Bucky said, moving to the other side to pick up the toy and return it to his owner. ”Spidey, you can’t leave Peter like that. He needs you by his side at all times.” Bucky scolded the toy with a pointing finger.

Peter giggled as he watched Bucky pretend to scold his stuffie. "Noooo! He didn't mean it! He just saw a bug on the ground 'n wanted to eat it, it's not his fault!" He said, making more grabby hands to take the stuffie back. "Me 'n Spidey aren't  _always_  together, not like you 'n Stevie." He said, giggling. He always,  _always_  enjoyed making jokes about those two.

”Who’s Stevie? I don’t know a Stevie.” Bucky pretended and even looked around the ward as if he was looking for someone.

"You know Stevie! Stop pretending!!" Peter said, frowning as best he could even despite the giggling that escaped him. "Steeeeeve! Your boooooyfriend!" He cooed, giggling to the point where his shoulders were beginning to shake. "C-Can I have Spidey back now?" He asked, his arms wide open.

”My boooyfriend...” Bucky repeated and couldn’t help but blush a little. In a way, he was very happy to see Peter again, but not like this, hooked up to monitors and liquid food. ”I guess you can. Have you two been friends for a long time?” Bucky asked as he handed the toy back and began busying himself with checking Peter’s blood pressure.

Peter took Spidey graciously, but couldn't help peering at Bucky's face. He seemed... flustered by something. Maybe Peter missed something in their conversation. Whatever. He sat back against the pillow as Bucky checked his vitals. "Uhm, yeah! Ages... My, uh, my uncle got him for me when I was a kid, and... and I sleep with him every night." He mumbled, looking down at the spider in his arms.

”Yeah, it’s nice to not be alone at night. And how is Spidey doing? Besides maybe a little scared from falling off the bed.” Bucky chuckled, checking the IV and that the needle wasn’t causing too much irritation on Peter’s hand.

"He's okay. He's never been in a hospital before... He says it's big 'n scary." Peter mumbled, looking down into the spider's big beady eyes. "It's okay, though, cos I've been in a hospital, so I know they're not bad. He's also never spoken to other people apart from me, so... you get to be the first!" He smiled, looking up at Bucky and lifting up one of Spidey's legs to give the illusion that the spider was waving.

”Well, it is an honour, Mr Spidey.” Bucky said and shook the toy’s limb in a greeting. ”And you’re a very clever boy for teaching Spidey about hospitals, Peter.” Bucky praised, making a note on telling Stark about how a regressed Peter seemed more open to being cared for by others

Peter smiled at the praise, squirming about under the blankets as he took Spidey back. "'m not  _that_  clever..." He said, shrugging modestly as he watched Bucky warily. "What time is it? I... I wanna play with Legos..." He mumbled, slowly regressing further as his mind was all over the place.

”It’s just after 6, which means it’s dinner time and the kitchen made mashed potatoes and meatballs. Would you like some of that?” Bucky asked with an encouraging smile, suspecting that the boy wouldn’t want anything, but still had some hope that he would.

Peter pursed his lips in deep thought for a moment, but then nodded his head slowly. "Y-Yes please. Not... not much, though. I still feel a bit gross..." He mumbled, toying with Spidey in his hands. " _Then_  can I play with Legos?" He asked, tilting his head to one side and pulling his best puppy-dog eyes expression.

”Of course, just a few bites will make a huge difference.” Bucky said and ruffled the boy’s curls. ”Once you’ve eaten a bit, I’ll get the doctor and we’ll ask him about the legos, all right?”

If "!!!!" was a noise, Peter just made it when he heard that Doctor Stark was going to turn up and that they could play with legos together. He grinned one more time, scrunching his eyes closed and wiggling his toes.

The nurse left and returned swiftly with a tray of food and drink for the boy, pulling up a table and helping the boy to sit up. ”Take it easy, all right? Eat slowly and then you won’t upset your stomach.” Bucky instructed, leaving the boy to eat while he went and got Tony.

The food looked a little bit gross, but if it meant that the staff (especially Doctor Stark) were happy with him, then he would eat it. He picked up the spoon and poked at the food warily, eating small spoonfuls of it every minute or so. He didn't have much else to do except hold a suspiciously one-sided conversation with Spidey as he waited for the doctor to show up.

After hearing from Bucky that Peter was eating, Tony couldn’t help but smile a little. He left his office along with the nurse, but before going to the med ward, he stopped by the playrooms. Pouring a decent amount of legos into a smaller box, Tony left the playroom and went to the ward.

Peter was about halfway through his meal when he heard the door swing open. He expected it to be Bucky again, but when Doctor Stark came in, a huge grin spread across his face. "Wolfie!!!" He exclaimed, getting even more excited when he saw the box that the man was carrying. "Are those legos? Can I play with the legos?" He asked excitedly, his entire body almost vibrating with happiness.

”You’re looking a lot better.” Tony said with a smile as he walked over, placing the box on a bed nearby. ”And yes, it’s legos that we can play with, but you have to eat yourself full first, okay?” The doctor saw that his patient had already eaten a good amount, but the more the better.

Peter pulled a grumpy face, before picking up the spoon and eating one more mouthful. "There, done, full! Legos?" He asked, dropping his spoon onto the plate and holding his hands out in hopes of getting Legos. He wasn't  _really_  full, and he was pretty sure he wasn't tricking Doctor Stark, but it was worth a go.

”Ah-ah-ah. Have some more. Be good for me, Peter, and then you can play.” The doctor said a little sternly.

"Ohhhhhhh, but... but I wanna plaaaaay!" Peter whined, but picked up the spoon regardless and continued to eat. He grumbled under his breath, pretending to give Doctor Stark a death stare every time he looked over, but soon the plate was almost completely finished, and Peter was genuinely full.

Seeing Peter pause over his food, Tony said. ”It’s okay if you can’t finish it, Peter.”

"Are... Are you sure? You said... you said I have to eat myself full, 'n there's some left..." Peter said, looking down at the food then back at the Doctor.

”Have you eaten yourself full, Peter?” The doctor asked simply.

Peter paused, before nodding truthfully. "If I eat any more, I might vomit. That'd be gross..." Peter laughed nervously, pushing the little desk over his bed away from him so that he could clear some space for the legos.

”Yes, that would be gross. But you did a great job eating, Peter. You should be proud of yourself.” Tony smiled as he went to fetch the box of legos, placing it on the bed in front of Peter

Peter pumped his fist in excitement when the box of legos was placed in front of him. "So, what should we build?" He asked, looking at Doctor Stark expectantly. He wanted the doctor to be involved too, and so he waited to see what he said, a smile on his face.

The doctor thought for a moment, humming aloud before he came up with something. ”How about we build cars and have a race?” Tony suggested

Peter gasped with excitement. "Yeah! That sounds like fun!" He squealed, immediately diving into the box to find the materials he needed for his race car. He piled some into his lap and hunched over his legos secretively, hiding his stash from Doctor Stark as he built his car.

Chuckling a little at Peter trying to hide his creation, Tony dived into the box too, finding some plates and blocks to start the frame. ”How was your nap earlier?” The doctor asked casually as they both started building.

"The one after you left?" Peter asked, not looking up from what he was building. "It was okay... but then I woke up 'n Spidey was on the floor. But Bucky came 'n picked him back up for me, 'n I told him that Spidey's never spoken to strangers before, 'n he said it was an 'honour'." He rambled, giggling at the memory of Bucky shaking Spidey's leg in greeting. "What do you do while I'm asleep? Do you see the other people in here?"

”I do, I got lots of little girls and boys like you to take care of.” The doctor said, tapping Peter on the nose with his finger playfully. ”And then I talk to the other doctors and nurses here, like Bucky and Steve.”

Peter let out a squawk of surprise when Doctor Stark tapped him on the nose, his hand instantly coming up and grabbing the man's finger. "I gotcha! I gotcha!" He cried in triumph, shaking it about gently to emphasise his point. "Now you can  _never_  go, you have to stay here foreveeeer!" He giggled.

”Oh, no! What will happen to all the other little boys and girls when I’m gone!” The doctor moaned out dramatically, trying half-heartedly to pull his finger back

Peter giggled, his Lego creation laying forgotten to the side as he kneeled up in bed to get closer to the doctor. "You're all mine, wolfie!" He giggled. "But you better not eat me, otherwise I won't be happy." He frowned exaggeratedly at the man, scrunching his nose up.

With a quick glance up at the monitors, the doctor found the boy´s stats to be looking good and continued with their pretend game. "If I promise to not eat you, will you let me go, little boy?" Tony asked with a pout, sticking his bottom lip out.

Peter hummed, thinking about it for a moment. "Okay... If you promise..." He said, slowly letting go of the man's finger and moving his hand down back to his lap. He continued to sit close to the doctor, picking up his lego creation to keep working on it. His tongue was poking out the side of his mouth, and he kept glancing up at Doctor Stark every couple of seconds, blushing when they made eye contact.

Whenever Tony saw that Peter raised his head, the doctor turned his eyes to meet his, giving a little smile each time. They sat in comfortable silence as they built, with the soft beeping on Peter's heart through the monitor as background noise.

After a couple of minutes, Peter was beginning to finish his car. He couldn't help but sneak peeks over at Doctor Stark's car, to see what he was doing, but soon he was finished and so he tapped the man's knee and held up his finished creation.

Looking up at Peter and finding that he had finished his lego car, he held up his own creation. "You ready for a race?" Tony asked with a little grin, lifting a finger to spin one of the wheels on his car

"Yeah! Where're we gonna race 'em?" Peter asked, looking around the room. He peered off the side of the bed to see the large expanse of floor, and leant forward to put his on the ground. He couldn't move too much, just in case he accidentally ripped out his IV tubes, so he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, careful there. You're hooked up to all kinds of things, little one." The doctor winced when the boy leans over. "You just sit tight and I´ll do the race, all right?" Tony suggested, picking up both cars and crouching down by the floor where Peter could clearly see him from the foot of his bed

Peter pouted, but sat back and watched as Doctor Stark prepared the cars. "Mine's gonna win, Doctor. It's super, /duper/ fast!" He said, crossing his legs and reaching for Spidey to put him in his lap. "Here, Spidey, you can watch too." He mumbled, turning the stuffie so that it could watch the race.

"We will see about that." Tony chuckled, teasing the start off by pushing the cars back and forth before looking up at Peter. "Ready? Three, two, one!" And then he sent the cars off along the floor. Both cars went surprisingly fast and both came to a sudden stop when they hit the wall, with a few pieces falling off due to the hit.

Peter squealed when they raced across the floor, but flinched when they hit the wall, some of the pieces flying off the car and scattering across the floor. "Woah!! Those went so fast!" He said, bouncing on the bed with Spidey in his lap. "Does that mean we drew?" He asked, tilting his head to one side with a goofy grin on his face.

"I think it is a draw, yes!" Tony laughed, standing up again. "That was exciting, wasn't it? Pieces flying everywhere!"

Peter snorted with laughter, moving back a little bit on the bed to give room for Stark to sit down if he wanted to. "Spidey said he thought he saw my car go a little bit faster than yours..." He muttered, trying his best to appear innocent and not-at-all biased, but a cheeky grin continued to tug at the corners of his lips.

"Oh, is that so?" Tony chuckled, humming as he turned to look at the cars by the wall. "Are you sure Spidey is being truthful?"

"Let me confer..." Peter held the stuffie up to his ear, nodding solemnly as he pretended to listen to the stuffie's argument. "Yup! He's being 100% truthful, no lies, thank you very much." Peter said, though he began to snort with laughter once more, which he hid behind his hand. "You lost, wolfie!" He jeered playfully, sticking a hand out to try and touch the man's beard  _a_ _gain_.

"All right, all right. You won, Peter. Congratulations!" Tony said with a wide smile and clapped his hands. "You are clearly superior when it comes to building lego cars." The doctor said and went to fetch the legos.

If Peter was aged up, he would’ve thought that that last sentence seemed a little sarcastic, but in his current state, Peter simply cheered and watched the man pick the cars, and their debris, up off the floor. “What now, Daddy?” He asked, his voice turning timid at the title.

"Now, I think it is bedtime for little boys like you." The doctor said, his heart breaking just a little bit at how Peter´s expression fell.

Peter's heart sank at that. "Bedtime? But... But I barely saw you today? And, and, and, we didn't get to play pretend! Wh- I don't wanna go to bed!" He cried in anguish, hitting his fist against the bedcovers weakly.

"Hey, hey." Tony said calmly, sitting by Peter on the bed and grasping his hands. "You need the rest, Peter. This is very important. Do you want to get better?" The doctor asked.

Peter's bottom lip trembled, but he knew that Doctor Stark was right. He did need the rest, and at the back of his mind, he knew Doctor Stark would be back tomorrow. "Yeah..." He sighed, chewing on his lip. "Can we play more tomorrow?" He asked, pulling another puppy-dog eyes expression.

”Of course.” The doctor assured and began clearing the legos from Peter’s bed. ”Do you need help getting ready for bed, little one?” Tony asked as he set the box aside

"Yes, please." Peter asked politely, watching the man put the legos away. He was already looking forward to tomorrow, not just because he would get to see Doctor Stark, but he was even looking forward to seeing the nurses again. "I... I like it when you call me that." He admitted quietly, looking down at his lap.

”You like being called little one?” The doctor asked, just to be sure he had heard the boy right. ”Well, in that case I’ll call you that even more.” He said with a smile as he began removing the wires from Peter’s chest to free him.

Peter nodded nervously, but grinned when Doctor Stark said he'd call him that more often. "Just... pet names in general, they're... they're nice." He mumbled, holding still for the man to remove the electrodes from his chest. He held his breath, and his heart pounded like a captive hummingbird, being so close to the doctor, but the moment was over as soon as it had begun and Peter was left to sit back against the pillows again.

The doctor made a mental note on the nicknames and smiled at his patient. Moving the IV bags to one movable pole, Peter was free to leave the bed. ”Up you go, Petey. Bathrooms over there and I’ll bring your bag, okay?”

"Th-Thanks." Peter mumbled, smiling at the man before slowly getting up out of the bed. He gripped onto the IV pole tightly and took a step forward, slowly enough that he could easily catch himself if he fell. When he knew that his legs could carry him, he began hobbling over to the bathroom, his pyjama pants bunched up around his knees and his t-shirt slipping off one shoulder. Once in the bathroom, he took his toiletry bag from Doctor Stark, muttering another "thank you". He brushed his teeth as best he could and washed his face, before tousling his hair to get it out of his eyes. He finally turned around to see Stark at the doorway. "Do I look less gross now?" He asked jokingly.

With a little chuckle, the doctor replied. ”You look just fine, Peter. Like a handsome little boy.” He added with a smile.

Peter blushed  _hard_ , the red colour flooding his face and the tips of his ears. He hid his face in his hands too, shaking his head so hard that his curls bounced. "Stooop!" He whined, embarrassed but flustered.

”What, you didn’t like it when I said you were a handsome little boy, handsome little boy?” The doctor teased with a laugh

"I said stooooop!" Peter whimpered, taking a step forward and playfully slapping the man on the forearms over and over, ducking his head down so the doctor couldn't see his blush. "You're so  _embarrassing_ , wolfie..." He muttered, headbutting the man on the shoulder once then heading out, still holding onto the IV pole for support.

”I can’t help it, I’m afraid.” Tony chuckled, following Peter so that he was close enough in case he tripped. Once the boy was back in bed, Tony fixed the wires to the electrodes once more and hung up the IV bags. ”You getting sleepy, little one?”

Peter clambered back into the bed, his blush still not quite fading from his cheeks as he squirmed under the covers and grabbed hold of Spidey. When he was asked, Peter thought about it for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah, I guess..." He was a little unsure, but he knew he'd probably fall asleep in a couple of minutes anyway.

”Do you want me to read to you until you fall asleep?” The doctor asked, tucking the boy in and making sure he was comfortable.

"Uhm... No, 'm okay. Just... stay anyways?" Peter asked, peering at the doctor over the top of the bedsheets. The more time he spent with the doctor, the better.

”Of course.” The doctor assured, going over to shut the lights before pulling up a chair and sitting down by Peter’s bedside. ”Just close your eyes, little one. I’ll be right here.”

Peter nodded, before curling up under the covers with Spidey clutched tightly to his chest. The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was Doctor Stark watching over him, and it filled him with calm as he drifted off.


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: this chapter mentions peter getting sexually aroused. it's not smut, but part of the chapter focuses on it. peter is 18 in this fic, a legal adult, so it is not underage, but readers /might/ be uncomfortable with it considering the other themes of the fic.

Peter awoke the next morning to see that the seat Doctor Stark was previously sat in was now empty. He couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed, but the part of him that had common sense knew that he was off treating other patients. Spidey was at the end of the bed, and even though he was a little more aged up than he was yesterday, he couldn't resist grabbing the stuffie and cradling it to his chest while he waited for the nurses to arrive.

Steve could see from the nurses station that the only EKG monitor being used spiked a little, meaning that Peter had woken up. Giving the boy a few minutes, Steve headed to the med ward after making a stop to the kitchen. The nurse entered the ward with a knock on the door, using his shoulder to open it as he balanced the tray of food in his hands. ”Morning, buddy.”

Peter was about to fall back asleep, but when he heard a knock on the door he immediately became more alert, sitting up in the hospital bed expectantly. He smiled gently when Steve came in with his breakfast, and Spidey laid on his lap as he made grabby hands for the tray to be passed to him. "Hey, Steve!"

”You seem cheery.” The nurse said with a smile, setting the tray on Peter’s lap. ”Did you sleep well?” He asked, glancing up at the monitors and fiddling with them a little for a look on how Peter was during the night.

"'m cheery to anybody who brings me food." Peter quips back, a cheeky grin pulling on his lips before he grabs the spoon and digs in to the porridge put in front of him. It's a bit bland, sure, but Peter's starving and he tucks into it regardless. "Slept okay. Doctor Stark kept me company til I went to sleep, 'n then Spidey was on guard-dog watch. Or... guard- _spider_ , even." He mumbled, not looking up from his bowl.

Steve chuckles a little as he watches the boy eat in a hurry, like someone is going to steal his food. ”That’s good to hear.” Steve says, checking the saline bags and finding them nearly empty. ”Speaking of Doctor Stark. He will come check up on you once you’ve eaten. He has something important to discuss with you and he’d like you to stay aged up for that, all right?”

Peter finished the porridge in no time and pushed the bowl further down the bed. He tucked Spidey under his arm and sat back against the pillows, watching Steve as he moved around the room and checked his vitals on the monitors. "Okay. I can... I can do that." He nodded, chewing his bottom lip nervously.

”He’ll be here shortly.” Steve assured and with that left with the tray.

Peter nodded, before humming a "Bye, Steve." as the nurse left. He had nothing to do but fiddle with Spidey's legs, but found that as he did that, his mindset began to slip and slide into littlespace.

The nurse bumped into Tony on his way to the kitchen. ”He ate everything?” The doctor commented, sounding impressed.

”Sure did. And in a hurry too.” Steve said and then they headed their separate ways. Knocking on the door, Tony entered the ward with a stack of papers in a file. ”Morning, Peter. Steve said you ate all your breakfast.” The doctor said with a smile.

 "H-Hi, Doctor!" Peter said when the man came in. "Yeah, I did. I was starving." He nodded, watching as the man sat in the chair next to his bed.

”That’s good. Seems like you got your appetite back rather quickly.” The doctor said with a smile and checked Peter’s chart. ”Besides, hopefully feeling full, how are you feeling?” Tony asked, looking at his patient

Peter hummed, thinking for a moment. "I feel... okay...? I dunno." He shrugged casually, looking down at his lap. "Rogers said you had something to talk to me about." That was a sign he was aged up, he only ever referred to the nurses by their first names or nicknames when he was in littlespace.

”I do.” Tony said, putting Peter’s chart under all the other papers. ”It’s about your medication. When we were on the phone yesterday, you said you hadn’t taken your medication like I prescribed it. Is that correct?”

"Uhm... yeah, I hadn't." He admitted, still looking down at his lap awkwardly as he twiddled his thumbs. An honest part of him was expecting the doctor to get mad, to start telling him off for not taking his medication. However, the common sense part of him realised that that wasn't exactly professional, so he relaxed a little bit.

”Okay, then you need to start taking those again, as I did prescribe them for a reason and that is to help you.” The doctor said a little gentler, seeing how Peter wasn’t liking this conversation very much.

Peter looked physically uncomfortable, shifting around in the hospital bed. "I just... I don't like taking them." He grimaced, finally looking the doctor in the face.

”Why don’t you like taking them, Peter?” The doctor pressed on, already thinking about side effects in his head.

"They're just... I dunno. I don't like taking medication, makes me feel... makes me feel like I'm not working properly. Like... like my brain isn't doing what it's supposed to, and the medication is just a reminder of that." Peter rambled, still looking down at his hands. "Sorry, that makes _n_ _o_  sense." He said, offering a weak laugh.

”No, that is actually a very common feeling among patients like yourself and it does make sense. But it isn’t the whole truth, as the medication does make you function better and that is what matters the most. Isn’t it?” Tony explained, trying to get Peter to gain another perspective on the issue.

Peter stayed silent at that, thinking it over. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, with Peter looking down at his hands, until he spoke again. "I'll try 'n take them." He said quietly. He didn't necessarily want to, but a very large part of him wanted to make Doctor Stark happy.

”It takes a while for them to work for you, Peter, but once they do, they will help enormously.” Tony said, trying to be a little cheerful. Looking through the papers, Tony pulled one out and handed it to Peter.

Peter nodded. He wasn't happy about it, but... whatever Doctor Stark wanted him to do, right? He took the paper from the doctor and read through it carefully. "Do you want me to sign this?" He asked, once he had read through it.

”If you want to. It’s a consent form and if you sign it, you consent to three weeks of treatment here under my care. How does that sound to you?” The doctor asked

Peter looked up at that, his eyes wide as they studied Doctor Stark's face. "So I'd have to... to stay here for another three weeks?" He asked, his face dropping into a grimace. He was at war with himself. On the one hand, he loved the time spent with Doctor Stark in littlespace, and he couldn't deny that it made him feel better. However... it meant staying at the hospital, and he wasn't sure he was comfortable with that. After a moment, he nodded resolutely. Anything to get better. "I'll sign."

”You can take some time to think about it. You don’t have to sign it right now.” The doctor explained, but a part of himself was relieved to hear that Peter wanted to sign, but he had to stay professional.

"No, I... I wanna sign now. Before I come to my senses and change my mind." Peter said, but the goofy grin pulling at his lips showed that he was joking, and that he really did want to sign it. "Can I have a pen, please?"

Taking a pen from the breast pocket of his lab coat, Tony offered it to the boy and watched him sign it and give the paper back. ”Well, it was good to get that out of the way. Now, onto your medication. Do you want to take them as pills or intravenously?” The doctor asked, tucking the consent form away safely before getting up.

"Uhm... pills. I don't really like needles." Peter said, once he had signed the paper and handed it back. "Are you... are you going to get the medication now?" He asked. That was quick, he thought to himself, but he knew that Doctor Stark was efficient, so he wouldn't be surprised if that was what the man was off to get.

”Yes, I will have to go fetch it from the nurses station as we do not keep it here. I’ll be right back.” Tony assured, bringing the papers with him before heading out of the ward.

Peter nodded, leaning forward slightly as he watched Doctor Stark leave the room, and then sighed as he sank back against the pillows. Staying aged up for this long in Doctor Stark's presence was exhausting, and Peter found himself curling up under the covers to reach Spidey. But he kept slipping... and slipping... and soon he was completely under the covers. Maybe if he stayed here... he could pretend he wasn't here, and trick Doctor Stark! The idea had him giggling, but he tried his best to stifle them as he waited for the man to come back.

Putting the signed consent form in his safe and fetching the medication, Tony headed back to the ward. He paused for a moment as he saw an odd looking lump on Peter’s bed. The boy had struggled to stay aged up, the doctor had noticed that easily, and the giggle coming from the lump confirmed his suspicions. ”Huh. That’s odd. Where did my little patient go? He was just here.” Tony thought aloud, walking around pretending to search.

Peter didn't dare poke his head out to check when Doctor Stark was coming back, so when he heard the door swung open, he instantly froze under the bedcovers. He tried his best to stay silent, he really did, but he couldn't help the giggles that escaped him. He buried his face into Spidey's fur to muffle them, but he was terribly obvious.

”I don’t understand. There was a good little boy here just now and we were going to build with legos together. Well, I guess now that he has disappeared, I will have to build all by myself.” Tony said dramatically as he continued to walk around, but stopped to listen to Peter in case he made any protests or if he wanted to continue the game.

Peter whimpered at the sound of Legos. He squirmed under the covers, torn between showing where he was so that they could play with legos together, or continuing to hide so that Doctor Stark had to /properly/ look to find him. Ultimately he didn't move, but he moved Spidey so that the stuffie's head popped out of the covers.

After Peter didn’t make any noises, Tony began approaching the bed, making sure his footsteps were heard. ”Hmm... I think I saw something move. I think I ought to check the bed.” He said, using his hands to feel around the lump. ”Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be anyone here...”

Peter shivered, pulling Spidey back towards himself under the covers. He could see the duvet deflating where Doctor Stark was patting it with his hand. "The Big Bad Wolf is gonna find us, Spidey!" He whispered hurriedly to his stuffie, knowing that because Doctor Stark was this close, he would hear the boy's whispers.

Sniffling loudly, Tony growled playfully. ”I smell a good little boy... Oh! He’s close, very close...” The doctor grumbled, patting closer and closer to the centre until he hit a limb.

No, no, no! Peter's breathing began to speed up as the hand got closer and closer, and when it touched his arm, Peter flinched violently. He squealed in terror, immediately popping out of the covers and scrambling backwards across the bed until he was pressed up against the headboard. "M-Mister Wolf! N-No, get back!" He whimpered, his eyes wide.

”Ah! There you are! Were you hiding, little one?” Tony growled again, licking his lips to play the part of the wolf.

"I... No, I..." Peter whimpered, his body trembling as his eyes followed the movement of the man's tongue across his lips. "Y-You're going to eat me!" He cried out, his chest rising and falling heavily with pants.

”Wait- what? No, no, no. You got it all wrong little one.” Tony shook his head. ”I’m not gonna eat you, silly. Where did you hear that?”

"Y-You... You're a Big Bad Wolf!" Peter said shrilly, pointing an accusing finger at the man who was stood at the end of the bed, looking down at the boy. "You're gonna... gonna..." His eyes widened a little bit but slowly he started to relax, his breathing easing out. "I like when you're evil..." He admitted under his breath, gazing at the man through his eyelashes.

”Oh, little one...” Tony said and then laughed, throwing his head back. ”There’s so many different ways one can be evil. Some Big Bad Wolves eat little boys and girls, but I-” The doctor paused, placing a hand on his chest. ”I just tickle them!” And with that Tony grabbed Peter by his ankles, pulling him down on the bed and began tickling the boy’s ribs

Peter gulped when Doctor Stark began to laugh, the evil smirk on his face as clear as day. He began to squirm once more, but had no time to react when Stark pulled him down by the ankles. "N-N-No! Stop!" He squealed, his cries for help soon turning into giggles as he squirmed and struggled on the bed. "No, not the stomach, not the stomach!" He squeaked, his whole body shaking as Doctor Stark towered over him.

”What was that? Yes, the stomach?” Tony laughed and moved his hands to tickle at the boy’s stomach.

"No! N-Nuh... Please, please!" Peter begged, his face screwed up with laughter as he tried to bat the man's hands away from him. "Y-You... I'll do anything! Please, M-Mister Wolf, I'll do anything!" He cried, trying his best to push Doctor Stark back.

”Anything you say?” Tony said and finally pulled his hands back, letting the boy catch his breaths. ”Even take these for me?” The doctor asked, grabbing the paper cup with the meds that he had placed by Peter’s bedside while pretending to search for him.

Peter winced when Doctor Stark held the paper cup in front of him, and he looked into it to see four different types of pills. “I...” Peter stalled, looking from the cup to his doctor. He grimaced at the thought of taking them, but he found himself becoming side tracked by a rapidly developing feeling deep in his stomach, one that seemed to unfurl with each second that he and Doctor Stark spent this close to one another, with the man towering over him. “D-Daddy...”

Tony knew that the meds would cause a reaction and it seemed to pull Peter out of his little space, so he tried to pull him back. ”Yes, Daddy’s here, but you need to take these, baby boy. Can you be good for me?”

 “N-No, it’s not that, it’s...” Peter looked down again at his stomach, like he could see the heat forming from having the man so close, but in his little space he had no idea what it was. He began to panic, looking back up at his Daddy with wide eyes. “D-Daddy, I feel funny, I don’t...”

Putting the cup aside, Tony placed two fingers on Peter’s next and glanced up at the monitors, but found them normal. ”What do you mean, Petey? Tell me how you feel.” Picking up the penlight from his breast pocket, the doctor checked both of the boy’s eyes, but found both pupils to reach normally.

The fingers pressing against his neck made the boy shiver, and he found that any kind of touch from Doctor Stark was a good kind of touch. “It’s... It’s _down there_ , Daddy, down by... by my...” He didn’t dare say it, but he looked down at his crotch, where slowly but surely, his dick started to come to life. It made him gulp, and he looked up at the Doctor with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.

At first, Tony thought of some sort of STD or discomfort in his patient’s private area, but then it seemed to click. Peter had gotten aroused during their play fight and in his younger mindset, he didn’t understand the sensation. Sitting by the boy’s bedside, Tony asked a few questions. ”Does it feel warm? Tingly in a way?”

Peter squirmed uncomfortably, trying his best not to let out little whimpers as his dick rubbed against the fabric of his pyjamas. At the man’s questions, he could only nod, clearly embarrassed by what was happening. “I-It feels _weird_ , Daddy. It happened when we were... when we were playing, ‘n when you were the evil wolf, it... did something, I dunno what it did!” He whimpered, clutching at the bedsheets.

”Hey, hey, it’s all right.” Tony comforted. ”I know this is may seem frightening, but it is perfectly normal for little boys to get excited during rough playing. But it will eventually pass, we just have to wait a while.”

 “Wait?” Peter asked, despair evident in his tone. “B-But it feels weird, I don’t wanna wait for ages! How do I make it go away faster?” He said, frowning down at his crotch where the fabric was beginning to clearly tent. He put his hand over it to try and hide it from sight, but all that did was apply more friction to the problem, causing Peter to whimper once more.

”It won’t take long, but we can make it go away faster.” The doctor said, rising from the bed to go fetch something from a cupboard. Returning to the bed with an ice pack and some sterile towels, Tony shook the bag to activate the cooling effect and wrapped it in the towel before handing it to Peter. ”Place this on top and it will help.”

Peter instantly flinched when Doctor Stark brought out the ice pack, and brought his knees up under the duvet to curl himself into a ball. “I-I don’t want _that_ , that’ll hurt! I’ll just... I’ll wait for it to pass...” He sighed glumly, keeping his knees up to shield his dick from sight. “D-Does this ever happen to you, Daddy?” He asked curiously, tilting his head to one side.

”It does and it happens to most boys. Sometimes we just get excited and can’t help it.” Tony explained briefly before offering the ice pack again. ”And it won’t hurt, I promise. That’s why I wrapped it in a towel. Try it at least, Petey.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at the ice pack suspiciously, but slowly took the pack from the Doctor with both hands. He stretched his legs back out so they were flat against the bed, and slowly placed the ice pack down against his crotch. Instantly, he hissed at the sensation, making little choked off gasping noises at how the cold invaded his system. Soon, his erection started to flag, and Peter took the ice pack off to watch his dick soften.

”Is that better, baby boy?” Tony asked, taking the ice pack back and sitting down on Peter’s bedside again.

 “I guess...” Peter mumbled, grabbing Spidey from under the covers and cuddling him to his chest. He felt embarrassed more than ever now, and so he buried his face into Spidey’s fur, pointedly avoiding Doctor Stark’s gaze.

”It’s all right, Petey, happens to the best of us.” The doctor chuckles, placing a hand on Peter’s stomach to rub gently.

Peter flinched when Doctor Stark touched him again, and only became more flustered when he began rubbing gentle circles into his skin. He tried to take his mind off of it, but the sensitive area made him giggle quietly with laughter, his body trembling once more. “W-Wolfie, it tickles...” He mumbled, squirming again.

Wanting to avoid another episode of arousal, Tony pulled his hand back, but not before tapping Peter’s nose. ”You really do have to take these now, Peter.” The doctor said, holding up the paper cup again. ”Since you haven’t taken them in a while, they will most likely make you drowsy, but then you can just have a nice and long nap here with Spidey.”

Peter scrunched up his nose when Doctor Stark tapped it, and held his grimaced expression when the doctor presented him with the cup again. He sighed, looking up at the man warily before picking up the first pill and examining it closely. He squeezed his eyes shut and put it in his mouth, before quickly swallowing. He did this again and again until he had taken all four pills, and looked back up at Doctor Stark for his reaction.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony smiled, handing the boy a cup of water to wash it down.

”Is there anything you need before I leave you to have a rest?”

Peter hummed, thinking it over for a second. “Could you... stay here til I fall asleep, please? And... and maybe stroke my hair a lil’ bit?” He asked, a light pink blush developing on his face from mild embarrassment.

With a gentle smile, the doctor pushed the boy to lay back before bringing his hand up to his curls. ”I’ll stay. You just close your eyes and don’t fight the meds.” Tony said quietly, running his hand through Peter’s curls

Peter nodded dutifully, offering the doctor a weak smile before he let his eyes flutter shut. It took no time at all before he was asleep, the effects of the meds combining nicely with the soothing feeling of Doctor Stark’s fingertips against his scalp. He fell asleep with Spidey tucked safely under his arm, and his head turned to one side.

Once Tony was sure Peter had fallen asleep, he got up quietly and made some notes in his chart along with a note about the medication. Putting the chart aside, he left the ward to tend to other patients, but made a stop by the nurses station where Barnes was on call. ”Can you let me know when the Parker boy wakes up?”

With a nod and thumbs up, Barnes replied. ”Will do, Doc.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to rafni for making tony deal with it LIKE A PROFESSIONAL and therefore longing this shit out to like 40 chapters


	13. 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's only getting better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! just letting you guys know that we are listening to your ideas, and CHAPTER 15 (this update is chapter 13) will have an event which a lot of you have been asking for! hope you enjoy this one until then x

Peter awoke a few hours later, just after lunchtime, with the sunlight streaming thru the window. He blinked a couple of times and reached for Spidey, who had somehow gotten further down the bed than he was when he had first fallen asleep. He sat quietly, waiting for someone to notice he was awake.

Barnes noticed the spike in Peter’s EKG from where he was sat on the nurses station. He alerted Stark, like he had requested, but knew it would take a while for the doctor to see the message as he was busy with another patient and their one-on-one session. Getting Rogers to tend to the station, Barnes headed to the ward, knocking on the door before entering.

Peter was getting bored, _fast_. He had fiddled with Spidey and had conversations with him in his head (cos only nutters talk out loud, right?) and he was now singing under his breath, lying back in his bed and staring up at the ceiling. They were all old songs that May liked to play in the car, ones he had grown up listening to and thus could probably sing backwards. The knock on the door startled him out of his singing and he squeaked, sitting up immediately. “Wh-Who is it?”

”Just me, buddy.” Barnes said, putting his hands up with a chuckle. ”And just here to check on you. How did you sleep?” The nurse asked, checking the monitors and finding Peter's stats to be good looking.

 “Oh, hey Bucky.” Peter said, relaxing once more. “I slept fine. ‘m kinda bored though, there’s nothing to _do_  in here...” he said, glumly looking around the plain room and then back at the nurse. “Me ‘n Spidey want something to doooooo!” He cooed, wiggling the spiders legs to show enthusiasm.

”That's good, but I can't help much with the boredom, I'm afraid. Not unless Doctor Stark finds you to be fit to leave bed.” The nurse said with a sympathetic smile, making some notes in Peter's chart. ”You hungry, buddy?”

 “I could eat.” He said, shrugging casually. Already, he had the idea to hide under his covers _again_  when Bucky left to see how he would react. Would it be the same as Doctor Stark, or would Bucky be more grown-up? Peter wanted to find out.

”You sit tight then and I'll fetch some food for you.” The nurse said with a smile, putting the boy's chart aside before leaving again. When he returned with a tray a moment later, Bucky saw that Peter had hidden under his covers. He had heard from Stark earlier and recognised the game right away. ”Oh, no! Where did Peter go?”

The second Bucky left the room, Peter dived under the covers of his hospital bed. He held Spidey tightly to his chest, giggling maniacally, and it didn’t take long before he heard Bucky return. The exaggerated gasp was enough to make Peter start giggling again, but he stifled himself as best he could as he waited to see what Bucky would do.

Setting the tray on Peter’s bedside table, the nurse began searching. ”Christ, what will Doctor Stark say when he finds out I lost his little patient?” Bucky moaned out dramatically as he walked around searching. ”Peter? Petey, buddy, where are you?”

Peter gasped out loud at that. “Mr. Big Bad Wolf!” He whispered loudly to Spidey, cuddling him close. “What if B-Bucky tells Mr. Wolf, Spidey?” He stage-whispered. “I’ll be eaten up for lunch!” He squealed, and slowly lifted his head up above the covers to see Bucky looking around the room for him.

Hearing the covers move behind him, the nurse made a show of scratching his head. ”Where could he be? Perhaps under the bed?”

Peter giggled, deciding to finally show himself. “I’m here, Buck, I’m here! I was under the covers the whole time!” He exclaimed, his face breaking out into a toothy grin as he eyed up the tray that the man was holding.

”There you are!” Bucky laughed, walking over and ruffling the boy’s curls. ”You hid so well! I had no idea where you were.”

Peter smiled even wider, leaning into the touch on his head, but his hand reached up and grabbed the nurse’s wrist, shaking it playfully. “Your hand is mine now!” He said, laughing through his words as he wiggled the man’s hand around playfully. He tried his best to growl like Doctor Stark did too, but he just sounded like a kitten trying to be a lion.

”Is it now?” Bucky challenged with a grin, pulling his arm back and forth and pulling Peter along with him on the bed. ”You gonna let go?” He laughed

Peter squealed with enjoyment as he was dragged along the bed, trying his best to push back. "Never!" He cried, giggling profusely. "Now _I_  get to be your boyfriend, instead of Stevie!" He teased, his eyes glinting with mischief as his fingers curled around the man's wrist.

”Poor Stevie! Who’s gonna feed him if you keep me here? He can’t take care of himself.” Bucky said with a laugh as he continued pulling Peter back and forth.

Peter seemed to pause at that, clearly thinking. "You're right... Stevie _needs_  you..." He said, chewing his lip as he pondered. "Alright, I guess I'll let you go..." He grumbled, dropping the man's wrist but the mischievous look in the boy's eyes remaining. "Can I have my lunch now, please?"

With both his hands free now, Bucky moved to pick up the tray and placed it in Peter’s lap. ”Eat up, buddy.” He said and ruffled the boy’s hair again. ”You seem to have got your appetite back. That’s really good.” The nurse pointed out.

Peter squirmed when Bucky ruffled his hair once more, and picked up one of the sandwiches to examine it. It seemed to just be a simple ham and cheese sandwich, and Peter shrugged before he took a bite of it. He squirmed a little more when Bucky complimented him too, unable to resist a little smile forming on his face.

While the boy ate, the nurse busies himself with counting some supplies in the medicine and supply carts and cupboards. After a while, there was a knock at the door and Tony entered.

Peter ate the sandwich slowly, taking the time to savour it. His head whipped up at the knock at the door, and he had to try his best to hide his smile behind his sandwich as he ate. "H-Hi, Doctor." He said quietly. Don't get too excited, don't get too excited, don't get too excited.

”Hey, there.” Tony smiled, picking up Peter’s chart and looking it over quickly. ”How’s he been?” The doctor asked the nurse. ”He hid under the covers again, but other than that good and stable.” Bucky replied with a chuckle, winking at Peter

Peter blushed _hard_  at that, giving Bucky an embarrassed death glare. "Shu'up, Bucky..." He murmured, ducking his head down and continuing to eat his sandwich. He soon finished the food and picked up Spidey from under the covers, cuddling him to his chest as he watched the two men interact.

As they waited for Peter to finish his food, Tony and Bucky continued to check and count the supplies. ”We need a new order on these.” Bucky muttered to himself, writing it down on the check list.

”You done? How are you feeling?” Tony asked as he saw Peter had finished his food and walked over, glancing up at the monitors.

Peter nodded, pushing the tray down the bed and sitting up properly. "'m feeling okay. 'm bored though." He said plainly, his eyes wandering over to Bucky and watching him make various notes.

”Yes, I heard about your boredom.” Tony said with a chuckle, grasping the boy's chin gently to get a better look at his face. ”Maybe we could do something about that.” He said with a knowing smile, pulling the delicate skin under Peter's eyes down with a thumb to get a better idea of his condition.

Peter's eyes widened a little bit when Doctor Stark took grip of his chin, and his heart began to beat a little bit faster. Oh God, was... was this a crush? Was that what this was? Peter wanted to hide his face from embarrassment, but the doctor currently had his hand on his chin, so Peter had no choice but to look him in the face. "What... what're we gonna do? Legos?" He asked, already getting excited at the concept of playing more with Doctor Stark.

”Just sit tight for a bit, so I can check you over.” Tony said, moving his hand from the boy's chin to press him to lay back gently. ”What we do next depends on your condition, you see.” The doctor explained, getting the blood pressure cuff and wrapping it around Peter's upper arm.

Peter could feel the doctor's hand square on his chest, and it made him feel butterflies. He laid back obediently, and sat still while the doctor attached the cuff to his arm. "So it's not Legos?" Peter asked, his face falling momentarily. He liked Legos the best, but if it was something better, then he could hardly wait.

”Impatient, are we?” Tony chuckled and inflated the cuff till he got a reading. ”BP is much better than yesterday.” He commented, tugging the cuff off before moving to palpate the boy's abdomen. ”You've eaten three full meals since you arrived. Any stomach pains?”

Peter huffed, sticking his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. "I just don't wanna be bored!" He whined, going to cross his arms but hesitating when the doctor leaned in to touch his abdomen. "No, no pains..." He said, looking down and watching the doctor work. He kept glancing up at Bucky, who offered him encouraging smiles every so often.

”All right, all right.” Tony said, finding no medical reason as not to let the boy get out of bed for a while. ”How about I prescribe you a walk outside? To fight off the boredom.” The doctor suggested.

"Outside?" Peter perked up at that, sitting up a little straighter in bed. "As in... _outside_  outside? Not just... around the corridors?" He said warily, making sure he was hearing things correctly. "Would you come with me?"

”Yes, outside outside.” Tony repeated with a chuckle. ”Some fresh air will do you some good.” The doctor said, moving to removed the wiring from Peter's chest while Bucky removed the tubing and placed a cap on the IV needle still in Peter's hand. ”And yes, I will come with you.”

Peter was almost vibrating with excitement, but tried his best to sit still as the men sorted out his wiring and the IV needle. "So I get to look at the birds? I can tell you about them!!" He squealed excitedly, his toes wiggling with pure joy. His childlike, toothy grin was back, and he had Spidey gripped tightly in his other hand.

”I'd love to hear about it, little one. Now, lets get you sorted out, shall we?” Tony said, helping Peter sit up and swing his legs over the edge of the bed. Meanwhile, Bucky fetched Peter's bag to find a hoodie that he could wear.

Peter took the help graciously, shimmying out from under the covers and moving to stand up from the bed. He gripped onto Doctor Stark's forearm as he stood, wavering a little bit but ultimately standing steady. "Can I bring Spidey too?" He asked timidly, looking back to see his stuffie still on the bed.

”Of course. We wouldn't want Spidey to feel lonely, now would we?” Tony smiled, helping the boy stand steady till Bucky came over with a hoodie and pair of velcro sneakers.

Peter flashed his toothy grin again, reaching back and grabbing Spidey off the bed to tuck him under his arm. When Bucky returned with his clothes, he got into them slowly, sitting back down on the mattress to put his sneakers on. Once he was dressed, with Spidey in hand, he stood up and looked at Doctor Stark expectantly. "Let's go!" He said, excitedly bouncing on the spot.

”Before we head out, we have to make a deal.” The doctor said seriously and waited a moment till he had Peter's full attention. ”The deal is this. We will go outside and walk for a bit, maybe sit on a bench for a bit, but you have to let me know if you get tired, lightheaded or dizzy. All right? This is important, Peter.”

Peter's smile faded into a more serious expression, and he looked over at Bucky, then back at the doctor before nodding solemnly. He didn't want to mess this up, and so he clutched Spidey tightly in one hand, and the doctor's forearm in the other. "Promise." He said, before his soft smile returned. "I wanna see the birds!"

”Okay, then. Let’s go watch some birds.” Tony said and letting his patient hold onto his forearm, they made their way slowly but steadily to an exit. Using his keycard to open the door, they both stepped out into the sunshine.


	14. 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony head outside.

Peter waved goodbye to Bucky before they left, holding onto his stuffie in his waving hand. As they made their way outside, Peter winced at the sunlight that streamed against his face, blinking owlishly to see they had gone into the courtyard. Immediately he spotted a bench and headed towards it slowly, tugging Doctor Stark along with him. "I've always wanted to sit here. If we sit reeeeeally still... we might see some wagtails." He explained carefully, taking a seat and crossing his legs on the bench.

”Wagtails, huh? What do they look like?” Tony asked as he sat next to Peter, placing one knee over the other as he sat back.

"Well... if we're talking about pied wagtails, they're really teeny tiny black 'n white birds with long tail feathers. 's how they get their names, you know?" Peter explained, placing Spidey in his lap and resting his elbows on his knees, before putting his chin in his hands. "They like concrete spaces, like car parks 'n stuff, so this courtyard gets them sometimes." He mumbled further, his eyes up towards the sky as he looked for signs of birds soaring past.

Tony nodded as he listened to Peter, following his eyes as he looked up at the sky. "Why do they like concrete spaces?" He asked further, wanting to validate the boy´s interests and make him feel like people are interested in what he has to say.

"I think it's cos of their diet. They mainly eat bugs, the really small ones? And you usually find more of them in concrete places, I guess." He shrugged, looking back at the doctor. A flurry of movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and so he turned, to see a pied wagtail hopping along the path a little ways in front of them. "Wolfie, wolfie look!" He whispered, slapping the man's leg lightly to get him to look. "'s a wagtail!"

Turning his attention to where Peter was looking, Tony gasped quietly. "You found it, clever boy. Well done. It's a cute one, don't you think? Think it's looking for some yummy bugs to eat?"

Peter glowed at the praise, his gaze not moving from the bird hopping along the concrete. "Maybe..." He mumbled, his eyes wide as he watched it. After a few moments it took off, hovering for just a second before flying upwards towards the sky, and Peter watched it go. "You see a lot of wood pigeons around here too, but they're _everywhere_." He muttered, sounding unimpressed.

"You aren't fond of them?" Tony asked, watching the bird fly off before he turned to look at Peter by his side. The boy seemed to glow, his shoulders relaxed and a little smile on his face. The doctor rarely felt sorry for his patient, as he worked hard to remain professional, but watching the patient by his side, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It was a shame that such a bright young thing like him should be so unlucky with bad brain chemistry and a less than fortunate upbringing.

Peter shrugged non-committally. “I don’t mind them. They’re just... really common. Kinda takes the fun out of bird-watching when you see nothin’ but pigeons.” He said, grinning to himself before turning to look back at the Doctor. Stark was watching him with an unreadable expression, and it was at that point Peter realised that maybe he was talking too much. “S-Sorry. ‘s just... I like birds. I’ll be quiet...” he said, looking back down at his lap where he was stroking Spidey slowly.

"No, no, keep talking. I'd love to hear more as I know very little about birds myself." Tony said, looking around for a bit until he spotted a bird on a tree branch not too far away. "What's that one, Peter?" The doctor asked and pointed at the bird in question

Peter followed the man's finger with his eyes, but couldn't see where he was pointing. "Hold on.." He said, shuffling closer and closer towards him until he was almost sat on the man's lap, peering up his arm like he was looking through a telescope. "Oh, that? That's a... that's a blackbird, I think. But it's brown, so it's a female." He said, squinting his eyes to make sure he got it right.

"Blackbird, but females are brown? Shouldn't it be brown bird then?" Tony joked, turning to look at Peter with a grin.

Peter shuffled back away from the doctor to put some space between them, blushing a little as he did so. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. Or like... black-brown bird." He snorted, meeting the man's eyes with a grin that met his own.

"That sounds the most scientifically accurate." Tony agreed, noticing how Peter scrambled back. "You can sit by me, Peter, it´s okay." He assured, lifting his arm to invite the boy to his side

Peter looked at him warily, his eyes wide. "A-Are you sure?" He asked, looking down where the man's arm was elevated, then back to Doctor Stark's face. Bit by bit, he shuffled sideways once more until he was tucked under Stark's arm, the doctor's arm draped over his shoulders, and Spidey still safely in Peter's lap.

"Yes, I am sure, Peter." The doctor assured, holding the boy close when he dared to move. "You feeling all right? You remember our deal?"

Peter nodded resolutely. He had never been this close to the Doctor before, even when play fighting, and he was stuck between relaxing completely and remaining tense like a bowstring. “I-I’m fine. I wanna stay.” He said determinedly. “And so does Spidey.” He added as an after thought, picking the stuffie up and tickling Doctor Stark’s nose with one of Spidey’s legs.

Turning his head with a laugh, Tony pushed the toy back into Peter's embrace, squeezing the boy gently. ”That's good to hear.” And so they sat in silence for a while until Tony spoke up. ”Peter, there's something else I would talk about with you.”

Oh no. This was it, this is the part where Doctor Stark tells him he doesn’t like Peter, and that Peter isn’t a good patient, and that he was going to go away for a long time. Peter tried to steady his breathing, just long enough to whimper a “What is it?” before biting down hard on his bottom lip. Fuck, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!

”Now that you're back in my care, I'd like us to set some goals for your recovery. How does that sound?” The doctor suggested, squeezing the boy to his side again when he felt him tense up.

Okay. All was not lost yet. Peter let out a shaky exhale, relaxing into the man’s side a little bit. “O-Okay. Stuff like what?” He asked, glancing up at the man through his eyelashes.

”Well, that’s up to you. We can start by thinking about why you are here first and then move onto some goals. So, why are you here, Peter?” The doctor asked

 “Ugh... Daddy, you’re sounding like that Strange guy...” Peter grumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest and sitting closer to the man than before. He kept his voice quiet when referring to the man by that title, as saying it in public was a little bit embarrassing for Peter. He wasn’t a _baby_ , okay?

Tony chuckled at that. ”Yeah, maybe I do. We are both psychiatrists after all and have the same training. So, what did you tell Strange when he asked you that?” The doctor asked, rubbing Peter’s arm with his hand

 “I said... that if he had the notes from you, he could just _read_  why I was there.” Peter said, pausing for a moment. “And then I asked how he got his PhD if he didn’t know how to read...” he admitted quietly, hiding his face in Spidey’s fur with embarrassment. Hopefully Stark wouldn’t get too mad for making fun of Strange like that.

Tony couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that, covering his face with his hand as he cracked up. ”You said that? To his face? Christ, you are a little rascal.” Tony said, drying some tears from his eyes as he calmed down before turning to Peter. ”Sorry, sorry. I just, oh Christ... We studied together and he always thought he was better than me, and still does, so it’s good that you knocked down his confidence a little.”

Peter couldn’t help a proud grin as Doctor Stark laughed genuinely at his comment. “Rascal... I like that.” Peter said to himself quietly as Doctor Stark cracked up. He liked seeing Doctor Stark smile like that, and decided he wanted to see it as much as possible. “Yeah. He, uhm, tried not to react but I think I saw his eyebrow twitch.” He mumbled, the proud smile still on his face.

”Oh! Then you hit the jackpot!” Tony said and started laughing again, drying his eyes again as he tried to catch his breath.

Peter grinned again, the smile reaching his eyes as he watched Doctor Stark laugh. He didn’t say anything after that, simply cuddled up closer to his doctor with Spidey held in his arms. Part of him desperately wanted to rest his head on the man’s lap and take a nap, but he had just woken up from a nap. Besides, it was just an excuse to lie on the man again.

”But seriously, Peter. If you can’t answer me right now, can you at least think about it for tomorrow perhaps?” Tony suggested. ”It doesn’t have to be a big goal, just something small will do just fine. But, we do need something that we can work towards.”

 “M’kay...” Peter mumbled, nodding to himself. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again. “Daddy, can we... can we play wolves today?” He asked quietly, glancing up at the man who’s arm he was buried under.

”I think you’ve had enough excitement for today, little one, considering your condition. But tomorrow we can play.” Tony assured, rubbing Peter’s arm again. His heart broke a little at having to set boundaries for his patient, but he really had to if he was going to get his strength back.

Peter frowned, sticking his bottom lip out again at that. He wanted to play _now_ , not tomorrow. Well... he wanted to play tomorrow too, but... never mind. He sat in silence for a little while, fidgeting with Spidey’s legs again and watching the pigeons exploring the courtyard.

They sat in comfortable silence, just watching the pigeons fly by. The doctor kept holding the boy close, rubbing a hand up and down his arm.

Peter could feel his eyes getting droopy as they sat on the bench, and he tried his best to stifle a yawn that crept up on him. It didn’t work, though, leaving him to make an odd squeaking sound when he yawned. “Daddy? ‘m tired...” he admitted finally, burying his face into the doctor’s side.

”I think another nap is in order then, hm? Come on, I’ll take you back to bed, little one.” And with that Tony picked the boy up into his arms, bridal style, and carried him back to the ward. The doctor had little trouble carrying the boy, considering his skinny and tiny figure.

Peter squealed when he was picked up, instantly wrapping his arms around the doctor’s neck to steady himself as he was carried back to his room. He giggled to himself, turning his head and burying his face into the crook of the man’s neck. When he was put down on the bed, though, his grip got tighter. He didn’t want to let the doctor go.

Tony couldn’t held but smile at Peter’s muffled giggles as he carried him to the ward. ”Hey, it’s okay, Pete. I’m not leaving just yet.” The doctor comforted, untangling Peter’s fingers from behind his neck after laying him down.

Peter relaxed at that, letting the man untangle him gracelessly. He took Spidey into his arms, cuddling him close and looking up at the Doctor with wide eyes. His right hand started to move, and his thumb stuck out before the tip was put in his mouth. “What now?” He asked, his words slightly slurred around the thumb in his mouth.

”It’s naptime for little boys like you, Peter. You need the rest.” The doctor explained, busying himself with putting the wiring back on as well as the IV tubing where Steve had hung up a new saline bag while they were outside.

Peter became grumpy at that, his face darkening into a frown. It didn’t look that scary though, in fact it probably just looked adorable. He gazed down at his stuffie, holding eye contact with it to avoid looking at Doctor Stark.

As he picked up Peter’s hand to reconnect the tubing, Tony gave it a reassuring squeeze. ”Do you want me to sit with you for a while?” He asked once he had fixed everything

Peter paused, thinking for a moment. “I... No, I’m okay.” He said quietly, still not looking up even after Doctor Stark had held his hand comfortingly. He continued to stare down at Spidey, chewing on his bottom lip.

”All right, then I’ll come check on you later.” Tony said, tucking Peter in so that he was comfortable. ”Have a good nap, little one.”

Peter nodded, immediately turning to face away from the Doctor and tucking Spidey under his arm. He closed his eyes and tried his best to fall asleep when he heard the door shut, but he couldn’t get to sleep. He found himself aging up, and soon he was wide awake again, staring down at the stuffed spider in his arms. It would be a couple of hours before anyone came to check on him, and he didn’t know what to do.

Tony could see that Peter had aged up and closed himself off, so he left him to it. He couldn’t sit by Peter’s side all day, even though he wanted to, but he had other patients to tend to and left the ward quietly.


	15. 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a setback.

”How did it go with the Parker boy?” Steve asked, putting the magazine in his lap as Tony stopped by the nurse’s station, leaning over the counter. ”We went and sat outside for a bit, watched the birds and such. We didn’t get to set some goals, though, so we will have to try that again tomorrow.” Tony said and the nurse nodded. ”Want me to remind him to think about it? Littles tend to be forgetful.” Steve chuckled to which Tony nodded in agreement.

”What’s next then?” Steve asked, glancing down at the monitors and found Peter’s heart rate a little elevated, but didn’t think much of it yet. ”I’d like us to talk about this Uncle Ben that he mentioned the first time he was here. I asked him to draw a picture of his family and friends before I discharged him, but he didn’t draw any Uncle Ben then. I’m not entirely sure how to approach the topic without frightening him.” The doctor pondered aloud.

Peter sat up in bed, looking over at his monitors to see the heartbeat line rising and falling gently. He was bored. He wanted to get out of bed. He shuffled to move his legs and swing them over the side of the bed, before slowly standing up. He realised that being attached to the monitors wouldn’t get him very far, but at least he could stand.

Peter wobbled where he stood, clinging onto the bedside table to stabilise himself. Now that he was aged up, he took the time to gaze around the room. It was plain and uninspiring, mostly taken up by the monitors that Peter was attached to. He thought back on the conversations that he had with Doctor Stark, when the man had asked him to think about goals during his treatment.

Oh God... Peter swayed, before sitting back down on the mattress. It suddenly hit him that he was back here for three weeks. He was going to be away from May, and from his friends, for three weeks, acting like a little kid. This was crazy. _He_  was crazy! His heart began to pound a little harder, and his hands trembled in his lap.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Peter couldn’t breathe.

He gripped the bedcovers tightly, trying to centre himself as he began to panic.

Why was he stuck here?

He wanted to desperately rip the wiring and the IV needle out of him, but he knew it would hurt. He let out a choked sob as his vision became blurred with tears.

He wanted to be back with Aunt May.

Where was May?

”Speaking of frightened...” Steve said as he looked at the monitor as Peter’s heart rate continued to rise. ”Peter’s heart rate is above 120.” And with that both Tony and Steve sprinted to the ward.

Peter’s entire body began to shake, and his vision to started to blur heavily as hot tears streaked down his face and dropped off his chin. His breathing came out as harsh sobs, and his shoulders shook.

He didn’t belong here.

He wasn’t crazy... right?

Entering the ward, Steve and Tony found Peter on the floor by his bed sobbing and hyperventilating. ”Peter.” Tony said a little firmly, trying to get his patient’s attention to calm him down as he crouched down by him, but not too close. Meanwhile, Steve went to lower the volume of the beeping monitors.

Peter didn’t hear the men come in, so when he looked up to see the doctor crouching beside him, he flinched violently, immediately shuffling away from him and throwing his arm out to hold the doctor at arms length. “D-DON’T!” He cried out, squeezing his eyes shut. “D-Don’t touch me!” He whimpered pathetically.

Classic panic attack, Tony thought to himself and communicated that to Steve with just a blink. With a wordless nod, the nurse when to fetch a sedative and keep it ready. ”All right, all right. I won’t touch you, Peter, but I need you to look at me.” The doctor said, hoping that some eye contact would ground him, knowing that he wasn’t alone.

It took him a moment, but Peter finally looked up and at the man through the teardrops on his eyelashes. “Stark...” he mumbled, his breathing turning into harsh, ragged gasps as the two looked at each other. “I need... I n-need May... and N-Ned... I wanna go _home_ , I’m not...”

”I hear you, Peter, and you will get to see them soon. But, right now I need you to follow my breathing, okay? Can you do that?” Tony said and placed a hand on his chest to demonstrate. Beside him, Steve had also crouched down with an oxygen mask in one hand and the sedative hidden in his pocket

Peter watched him warily, his body still shaking. His breathing was difficult to stabilise, and his chest heaved with each inhale. “I- I need my spider, gimme...” he said, looking around wildly for Spidey. When he saw Steve also crouching by him, holding a mask, he began to freak out again. “D-Don’t put that on me! Y-You’re gonna knock me out and-and-and leave me here!” He panicked.

Tony stood up a little and grabbed the stuffie and placed it in Peter’s hands. ”Peter, we are not going to do that. This is just oxygen, see?” Steve argued, holding the mask to his own face to show that it wouldn’t knock him out before offering it to Peter.

Peter looked at the mask warily, before shaking his head frantically. “N-No, I don’t... I don’t care, y-you can’t k-keep me here, I’m leaving!” He said, gripping the bedside table in a struggle to stand up. His legs were coltish, and he gripped Spidey tightly in his hand as he tried to push past the Doctor.

”Woah, lets just sit here for a while, Peter.” Tony said and with Steve’s help, they got the boy to sit down on the side of the bed. ”Lets try again. Look at me and follow my breathing, okay?” The doctor said, placing his hand on his chest again as he breathed deeply and audibly so Peter could copy him.

Peter stared down at the floor, where his feet barely reached the ground. He didn’t want to look at Doctor Stark, he wanted to get out, and go home. “Leave me alone.” He said quietly, his fists clenching.

Tony's top priority now was to get Peter to calm down. He had a feeling he could achieved that if he got Peter to regress, as he was more open to accepting care from others in his younger headspace. ”We cannot leave you in this state, little one.” The doctor tried first, speaking a little gentler, but still did not touch him. Seeing that Peter did not show any signs of fighting back, he continued. ”Look at Daddy, Peter.”

The sound of Doctor Stark’s voice made Peter freeze, his entire body tensing up. All of the emotions that he had pent up began bubbling over, and he couldn’t stop the tears that began to stream down his face when Stark requested that he look at him. He took a deep breath and turned to face him, wiping clumsily at his eyes to try and get rid of his tears.

”Hey, good boy, okay eyes up here now.” Tony said and with a hand on his chin, he lifted the boy's head so that they had eye contact. ”Now, in through your nose and out through your mouth, all right. Follow Daddy.” And so Tony breathed deeply again, using his free hand to guide Peter's breathing

Peter followed the man’s actions, lifting his head to hold eye contact. He slowly began to breathe deeply, clutching Spidey to his chest as he tried to stabilise his breathing. A couple more tears fell down his face, but he clenched his jaw determinedly and focussed on his breathing. “Daddy...” He whimpered, a sure sign that he was slipping back and deep into his little space.

”It's okay, Peter. You're safe here, just breathe with me.” Tony assured, taking the oxygen mask from Steve and holding it up to Peter's face, but not strapping it on yet. ”Just breathe. There's a good boy.”

Peter leaned back and away from the oxygen mask, but couldn’t get too far before Doctor Stark was holding it to his face. He was tentative as he breathed in and out, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes for directions. “Good boy” made Peter squirm where he sat, but otherwise he sat still for the Doctor.

”In through your nose and out through your mouth. Good boy, good boy. Just like that.” Tony praised as he watched the heart monitor slow a little and still held the mask to the boy's face.

Peter smiled weakly at the praise again, taking deeper breaths and following the man’s instructions. He slowly reached his other hand out to place it on the doctor’s knee for reassurance, looking up at the man for wordless reassurance.

Seeing that Peter was beginning to calm down, Tony smiled a little and looked at the hand on his knee. ”Can I touch you, Peter?” The doctor asked gently

Peter paused, before nodding silently. The smile faded from his face as he went back to focusing on his breathing, letting his eyes flutter shut as he breathed deeply. He squeezed Spidey tightly in his arms, running his fingers through the stuffies fur to calm him down.

Lifting an arm, Tony pulled the boy to his side and with the other hand he still held the mask to Peter's face. ”You're okay little one, Daddy's here. It's okay.” He cooed

Peter squeaked when he was pulled under the man’s armpit, and snuggled further into his hug. He sighed, before inhaling deeply and holding it for a few seconds, then exhaling. He couldn’t think right now, his brain so overwhelmed that all he could focus on was breathing and the heavy weight of Doctor Stark’s arm across his shoulders.

”Good boy, that's good.” Tony praised as Peter's breathing slowed and evened out. They sat in silence for a while and the doctor gave Steve a nod and so the nurse left quietly.

Peter’s heart began to calm down, and so did his breathing, and so they sat together quietly as Peter regained himself. When Steve left, Peter waved after him glumly, with a sad “Bye, Stevie...” mumbled under his breath. He turned to bury his face into Doctor Stark’s side again, letting go of Spidey to grip at the man’s labcoat.

Tony held the mask to the boy’s face for a little longer until he was confident that Peter’s breathing was okay. ”You had a panic attack, Peter. Do you want to talk about it?” The doctor asked quietly, setting the mask aside

Peter shook his head frantically, refusing to move from where he was almost plastered to the man’s side. He twisted his hands until they were caught up in the man’s labcoat, essentially anchoring him down.

”That’s okay, we can save that for another time. We can just sit here.” The doctor assured, squeezing the boy to his side and rubbing his arm gently.

Peter sighed again, melting into the man’s embrace. As he did so, his emotions bubbled up again and he began to cry once more, this time silent tears that rocked his shoulders and made him curl up and in towards himself. This lasted for a few minutes before Peter composed himself. “‘m sorry for... for making you come all the way here.” He mumbled guiltily.

”No reason to apologise, Peter, that’s what my job is. I’m here to care for you and help you.” The doctor assured and rocked the boy slightly. ”It’s okay to cry. You had quite the scare there.”

Peter wiped his eyes hurriedly. “‘s dumb. Only _babies_  cry.” He said glumly, turning and letting go of Stark’s labcoat to reach for Spidey. “I just... I miss May. And Ned. And... it scared me cos I thought I’d never be able to see them.” He admitted.

”Crying is perfectly natural at all ages, Peter.” The doctor tried to remind as the boy pulled away from him and listened to what he had to say before asking. ”Is that why you panicked?”

Peter nodded slowly, looking down at his socks. “I miss them already and... and it’s only been two days. How... how am I gonna survive three weeks, you know?” He asked, his voice changing as he seemed to be aging up a little bit. He wasn’t scared by it, if anything he was glad that Doctor Stark was there with him.

”Are you scared that you won’t survive without them?” The doctor asked, seeing how the boy was starting to age up as they talked.

 “I... yeah, I think so. I just don’t like this place, reminds me that... that there’s something wrong with me. And without them here to help, I’m just... that’s all I can think about. I even miss _school_ , how depressing is that?”

The doctor hummed as he listened. ”That is understanable and a common feeling among patients here.” He paused a little before adding. ”May, Ned and MJ seem like they are very important to you. What if the goal for your recovery related to them somehow?”

 “O-Okay...” Peter nodded. That sounded reasonable. “I... I wanna be able to be well enough to see them again, properly. Especially Ned and MJ, cos I see May all the time.” He said, thinking to himself. “I wanna... wanna be able to go swimming with them again. That’s dumb but...”

”No, I think that sounds like a very good goal.” The doctor assured. ”And we have three weeks to work on that together. What do you think about that?”

 “Three weeks... That’s long.” Peter muttered to himself. “‘s almost a month.” He said, looking back at the Doctor. “You promise you’ll help me? Pinky promise?” He insisted, looking up at the man with wide hazelnut eyes.

”Pinky promise.” The doctor said, offering hid pinky to seal the deal. ”It may seem like a long way to go, but we will get you there, Peter.”

Peter offered a wobbly smile, tear tracks clear on his cheeks, before shaking his hand a little bit to emphasise the pinky promise and dropping it. “Th-Thanks... Daddy.” He said quietly, slipping back into little space as easy as anything. As they sat together quietly, Peter’s hand started to wander up to Stark’s face, to touch his beard again. He didn’t know why he was obsessed with it as a little, but it was just fun to touch.

Grasping Peter’s prying hand in his own, Tony lifted it up to his lips to give a soft kiss to his knuckles before placing it in the boy’s lap. ”Lay back now, little one. You look exhausted.” The doctor chuckled, grabbing the boy behind his knees to lift his legs back on the bed.

Peter blushed when Doctor Stark kissed his hand, but didn’t resist when it was moved back to his lap. He squealed again when the man grabbed behind his knees, immediately squirming to get back. “T-Ticklish!” He cried before he swung his legs back onto the bed and moved back against the pillows. He held Spidey in his arms and watched the Doctor carefully.

Tony wanted to tickle the boy and make him squeal with laughter, but he had to stop himself considering Peter’s weak state and his need for rest. ”Sorry, sorry.” The doctor chuckled, pulling the covers back and tucking the boy in. ”I’ll sit with you for a while, okay?”

Peter nodded, bringing the covers up so that only his eyes and nose could be seen, as well as the fluffy mop of hair on his head. “You’re nice for staying here, Daddy. You don’t have to but... you do anyway.” Peter mumbled, wiggling his feet under the covers. He watched as they caused little tents in the duvet, and he had a little bit of fun kicking up the covers with his toes.

Tony hummed at that, but placed a hand on Peter’s thigh when he became restless. ”Lay back now, Petey. You have to rest now or you’ll grow overtired and cranky. And we don’t like our little ones to get cranky.” The doctor said, rubbing Peter’s thigh in a soothing gesture

Peter gasped theatrically at that. “ _Cranky_? I don’t get _cranky_!” He said, frowning exaggeratedly at his doctor. “But... I am tired...” he agreed, lying back properly against the pillows and closing his eyes. It barely took him a few minutes before he conked out with Spidey tucked under his arm, and the soothing feeling of Doctor Stark’s massage sending him off to sleep.

Peter’s heart rate slowed to a nice and low resting pulse and Tony got up from the bed quietly. Checking that everything was in order and making some notes on what had happened with Peter, he left the ward with a little smile on his face.


	16. 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter gets his room back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof, this chapter's a biggie. 5k words, enjoy!

When Peter woke up the next morning, he was still tired from the events of the day before. He sat up in bed, his eyes wandering around the room until he spotted Spidey on the floor again. He huffed, before slowly inching across the bed and attempting to lean out to grab him. When he couldn’t, he made a noise of frustration and punched his mattress, staying sat where he was as he waited for one of the nurses to show.

Seeing Peter’s monitor spike, Steve alerted Bucky who went to tend to the boy right away and brought a breakfast tray along with him. “Morning, buddy. What’s the matter?“ The nurse asked when he saw the frown on the boy’s face.

Peter smiled absentmindedly when Bucky arrived, but quickly frowned again when his gaze fell back to Spidey. “It’s Spidey, he went after another bug during the night and now he can’t get back on the bed!” He huffed, pointing over to where the stuffie laid on the floor.

”Oh, Spidey, Spidey...” The nurse groaned out, setting the tray on Peter’s lap before moving to pick up the toy. “This happened yesterday too! Havent you learned, buddy? Peter needs you by his side.” Bucky scolded the stuffie before handing it to Peter

 “Don’t yell at him! He was just hungry...” Peter whined, taking the stuffie back and cradling it to his chest protectively. He looked down at the tray, seeing more porridge for breakfast, and wrinkled his nose. “Bucky?” He asked in his sweetest voice possible. “Could you see if the kitchen has any honey? I wanna sweeten my porridge.” He asked, his big puppy dog eyes showing.

”What’s the magic word?” The nurse teased a little, even though he had already decided to go along with the patient’s request.

Peter jutted his bottom lip out for extra effect, but rolled his eyes when Bucky asked for the magic word. "Pleeeeeeeeease?" He whined, even clasping his hands together in a begging pose and hunching his shoulders.

”That’s better. I’ll go check, so you just sit tight.” Bucky chuckled and went to leave the ward to fetch the honey. He returned momentarily and showed Peter the little cup of honey. ”There we go. Did you sleep well, buddy?” The nurse asked as he began busying himself with checking the monitors and Peter’s chart.

Peter fist-pumped when Bucky agreed, and smiled widely when he returned with a tiny cup of honey. He took it from him immediately and began to spoon out the contents into his porridge, mixing it together. "I slept fine, 'm still a bit sleepy though." He said, concentrating on mixing the contents of his breakfast bowl together but not spilling it anywhere.

”That’s understandable. Besides being sleepy, how do you feel?” Bucky asked, looking down at how Peter stirred his breakfast.

Once Peter deemed the porridge adequately mixed, he put a spoonful of it to his lips and blew to cool it down. After a couple of seconds he ate it, nodding at how it tasted much nicer with the honey mixed in. "I feel..." Peter trailed off, thinking about what happened yesterday with Doctor Stark. "Fine." He lied through his teeth, focusing on eating his breakfast.

Glancing down at Peter’s chart, Bucky recognised Tony’s handwriting and what he had written about a panic attack the night before. But, the nurse didn’t press on and simply nodded. ”All right then. Eat up and then Doctor Stark will drop by and see if you’re fit to leave the ward and get to your room on the south wing.”

"My room? I get my own room again?" He asked warily. He wasn't sure whether he liked his room. It was good in the sense that he could get up and walk around if he wanted to, without being stuck to those weird monitors, but... it was still a room in the facility. He went back to eating his porridge, still mixing it every so often.

”You sure do. And it has a big window that you can sit by and look at the birds in the courtyard.” Bucky said with a smile, putting the chart aside.

"Huh..." Peter said, thinking to himself for a moment. He sat quietly after that, still slowly eating his porridge. Under his breath, he started humming softly to a tune playing in his head from a long time ago, until he had finished his porridge and he looked back up at the nurse expectantly.

”You finished?” The nurse asked, picking up the tray and setting it aside. Before he could make a move to grab the blood pressure cuff, there was a knock at the door and Tony entered with a smile. ”Morning.”

The boy nodded, leaning back a little bit to allow the nurse to take the tray away from him. When the door swung open, Peter peered over in that direction curiously, but settled back when he saw that it was Doctor Stark. He smiled gently in response, before watching Bucky try to sort out the blood pressure cuff.

”How are we feeling today?” Tony asked, walking up to Peter’s bedside and taking over for Bucky with the blood pressure cuff. The doctor wrapped the cuff around the boy’s arm while the nurse left with the empty tray.

Peter shrugged, holding out his arm to let the man wrap the cuff around his bicep. "'m fine." He said quietly, rubbing at his tired eyes with his other hand. "Buck said that I might be getting my own room back?" He asked, glancing over at the doctor's expression to see his reaction.

”Not just might, you are getting it.” The doctor said with a smile as he inflated the cuff. ”Question is when, which depends on your condition, but so far you are looking good and strong.” Tony said as he got a reading and tugged the cuff off again

"Oh, cool!" Peter said, smiling a little bit more. "He said it'll have a big window, and... and I can watch the birds." He mumbled, watching the cuff inflate. He giggled when it started constricting around his arm, the sensation being weird to the boy.

”Maybe you can keep track of which birds you see when? Like note it all down in a journal?” The doctor suggested. Tony knew that boredom was one of the worst things about staying at the facility and he wanted to give the boy a task to occupy his mind with.

"Yeah... maybe I'll make a chart." He pondered aloud, still looking down at the cuff. "Can we play today, wolfie?" He asked quietly, looking up at the doctor through his lashes as he worked.

”I think we can do that, yes. But, first I need to get a look at you. Any aches or anything that feels off?” The doctor asked, using his thumb to pull the skin below Peter's eyes down a little to get a better idea of his condition.

Peter held still obediently as Doctor Stark examined him. "Nuh uh. 'm all good." He said, wiggling his toes under the covers again as he waited for Doctor Stark to be done with his examination.

”You had quite the episode last night. Sure you aren't tired or something like that? Some patients describe a heaviness in their body after such an emotional episode.” Tony explained, eyeing Peter closely for any signs that he could be lying to get out of the ward faster.

"'m fine, I promise." Peter said, becoming more and more uncomfortable about remembering what had happened yesterday. He shuffled in the bed, gripping the bedsheets and bundling them up in his hands as he waited for the doctor to be done with the checkup.

”All right, then I see no reason as to why you can't leave the ward and stay in your own room.” Tony said with a smile, moving to remove the wires from Peter's chest. ”You might want to remove the stickers yourself.” The doctor said, tucking away the wiring and shutting the monitor off.

Peter grinned, a smile that reached his eyes. "Really?" He asked, looking down to see that the stickers from the monitor were still on his chest. He slowly pulled them off one by one, wincing as the glue pulled at his skin but ultimately came off after a bit of a tug. "When can I go there?"

”Once I’ve freed you from all this, then we can head over together.” The doctor said, wincing in sympathy as he watched the boy rip the stickers off and took them from him to throw away. While by the trash can, the doctor grabbed a pair of gloves, a bandaid and an alcohol pad. ”Can I borrow your hand for a bit?” Tony asked, gesturing to the hand that Peter had the IV needle in.

Peter giggled at that. “Yeah, yeah! Free me from this horrible device, Doctor Stark! It’s... it’s a _torture device_  that the nurses... the nurses were gonna use to make me spill my secrets! Oh, Doctor Stark, help me!” He wailed theatrically, giggling wildly as he offered one hand to the Doctor and placed the back of his other hand to his forehead, pretending to faint.

”Oh! So, I'm not the bad guy after all? It's the nurses?” Tony laughed as he went along, putting on the gloves before removing the tape that was holding the needle in place.

 “No, no no! I got it! _They_  work for _you_!” He giggled, dropping the hand on his forehead back to his stomach. “They... they tried to get the secrets from me, but I’d never tell, so they sent you here to eat me up!” He rambled, barely noticing the work that the Doctor was doing to remove the IV needle from his hand. His imagination was running wild, and he was running with it, giggling the whole time.

Tony pretended to be caught redhanded, widening his eyes dramatically and looking away as if Peter had cracked the code. ”I don't know anything about that.” He laughed, although he tried not to and pulled the needle out gently. ”Just a little sting.” He warned before he took the alcohol pad and wiped the little drop of blood before fastening the bandaid over the tiny puncture wound.

 “No, Mr. Wolf! ‘m not gonna let you eat me! Never in a gazillion years!” Peter cried out, but he stayed still as asked as the doctor removed the needle. He hissed in pain when the alcohol pad came into contact with the wound, but otherwise kept a determined face until the bandaid was safely on. “Mis-Mister Wolf, what happens now?”

”Full of questions, aren't you?” Tony teased with a little smile, bopping the boy on the nose before taking his gloves off. ”Now, we get you out of bed, grab your bag and head to your room.”

Peter scrunched his nose up and stuck his tongue out at the man. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up on coltish legs, quickly leaning back to grab Spidey as he did so. He slowly hobbled over to where his bag was, holding onto the wall to help him, before trying to pick the bag up.

Tony stood by Peter, ready to grab him in case he stumbled or fell. ”I can take the bag.” The doctor offered, throwing the strap over his shoulder and gestured to the door. ”Shall we?”

Peter stood back a bit to let Stark put the bag on over his shoulder, and looked at the door for a moment before turning back to the doctor. He nodded determinedly, and opened the door to the corridor. As they headed towards the south wing, where Peter’s room was, he kept his head down and stayed quiet, not wanting to attract attention from the other patients.

”So you know the drill, right? The rules around here when it comes to meals, medication and wandering around at certain times.” Tony said as he lead the way to the south wing, giving a little greeting to staff and patients as they passed by.

 “Uh huh...” Peter mumbled, trailing a little ways behind the Doctor. He didn’t want to seem eager by walking right up next to him. “‘m basically a _pro_ , I... I _run_  this place.” He joked, a mischievous grin settling on his face. “Just this morning? I asked Bucky to get me honey for my porridge from the kitchen? And he _did it_. I run this place!” He snorted, still looking down at his Velcro sneakers.

”He did?” Tony asked in disbelief and looked at Peter. ”First Strange and now Barnes. Who’s your next subject, Peter?” The doctor laughed as they got closer to the room. They walked a little longer, passing another patient before Tony stopped by a closed door and opened it. ”Here we are.” He announced, letting his patient walk into the room first

Peter simply tapped his nose wryly before they arrived at the door of his room. He walked inside to see the room was... plain. As expected. He shrugged to himself (at least there aren’t any monitors, he thought to himself), before moving further in to let the Doctor in.

”How’s that window then? Any good for bird watching?” Tony asked, setting the boy’s bag on a chair. It was a simple room, a bed, a little desk, a chair and little dresser. There was also a door that lead to a bathroom.

Peter headed over to it, peering through to see the courtyard that he and Doctor Stark had sat in yesterday. He brought Spidey up to the window too so that he could have a look, and together they watched out of the window for a moment before remembering that Stark was still in the room. “Y-Yeah, it’ll be good. Thanks, Doctor.” He said quietly, a shy smile tugging at his lips.

”I’ll leave you to get yourself sorted out here and then Rogers will come fetch you for our usual session, all right?” Tony informed and guessed that Peter would he quite preoccupied with the birds and such.

 “W-Wait! Does that mean we don’t get to see each other as much any more?” Peter asked, his face falling almost immediately. He wasn’t going to cry, but he could tell that he would get upset if he wasn’t told what he wanted to hear. He dropped the hand holding Spidey, only gripping him by one leg so he dangled towards the floor.

”We can talk more about how often we see one another during our session later.” The doctor said, coming over to the window to place a reassuring hand on the boy’s cheek. ”It’s just a couple of hours, okay?”

Peter leaned into the touch with his face, his eyes fluttering shut for only a moment before they opened again and his wide, hazelnut eyes gazed upon Doctor Stark’s face. The moment lasted barely a second, and then Peter was pulling away. “Okay... couple of hours.” He nodded slowly, trying his best to not seem disappointed.

Peter watched the man leave, and he couldn’t deny that his heart ached just a little bit. He sighed, taking Spidey back into his grip properly before turning back around to the window and sitting on its sill. As he watched the birds, an old song lyric came to mind, and he hummed it under his breath.

“Oh, my heart is yours... it’s you that I hold on to... oh, that’s what I’ll do...”

On his way to his office, Tony bumped into Steve. ”Peter’s in his room now. Could you go check his stuff and how he’s doing in a bit?” The doctor asked to which the nurse nodded. ”Will do, Doc.” And then they went their separate ways as Tony went to his office for a session with a patient while Steve brought medication around to certain patients.

\---

After a little while, Peter got bored of looking out of the window, so he headed to where Doctor Stark had placed his bag to take everything out of it. He stuck his hand inside, rooting around, but found something rectangular. Frowning, he pulled it out. _His phone_! May must’ve put it in there for him. Instantly he turned it on, forgetting about the rest of his bag and moving to the window to see if he could get service.

After getting half of the patients their medication, Steve headed to the south wing to check on Peter. It was almost lunch time and the nurse was planning on accompanying the boy to the canteen to ease his return to the facility. But first, he had to check Peter’s belongings for anything dangerous and confiscate his phone.

The service was shit, but Peter had been able to send a quick text over to May, and then to Ned, letting them know he was okay. He couldn’t do much else, so he put the headphones attached to his phone in his ears and turned to a random album. Instantly, music flooded his system and he could physically feel the stress leaving him as his shoulders sagged and relaxed.

Knocking on Peter’s door, Steve waited a second or two before entering. He found the boy sat on the window sill, phone in hand and headphones in his ears. The boy didn’t seem to have noticed that he arrived and continued humming and drumming his fingers along to the music. Steve was almost tempted to let the boy keep his phone, seeing how relaxed the music seemed to make him feel.

 “No matter what you say or what you do... When I’m alone, I’d rather be with you...” Peter sang along under his breath to the Childish Gambino track, his foot tapping against the sill as he sat on it, gazing out the window. For a moment, he seemed totally at peace, but he spotted a small bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see Rogers stood at the door, watching him. He squeaked and moved to pull out one of the earphones. “H-Hi.”

”Hi. Didn't mean to startle you, sorry.” The nurse chuckled, walking up a little closer. ”What are you listening to?”

Peter paused, chewing his lip as he looked down at his phone, before taking both earphones out and offering them to Steve. He kept a tight grip on his phone, but untangled the headphones so that he could extend them a little further for the nurse to put them in his ears.

Taking both headphones in his ears, Steve waited a moment before he got a sense of the song and tapped his foot in sync. ”That's a really good beat. Are you into music?” The nurse asked, handing the headphones back.

Peter shrugged, taking the headphones from him and putting one back in his ear - the ear closest to the window, so that he could still hear what Steve was saying. “Yeah. I can’t really do anything without it, like... even just walking places, I gotta be listening to music, you know?” He said, looking down at his phone which had now shuffled to a new song. “Not to be rude, but... why’re you here?” He asked, biting back a grin.

”Yeah, yeah. I'm also like that. I bring my wireless headphones with me everywhere.” Steve said with a smile. ”And I'm here to see how you are doing and if you're settling down here in your new room.” The nurse explained

 “Oh, right, right.” Peter nodded, looking around the room again. He had left his bag strewn on the floor, it’s contents spilling out like a gutted fish. He turned and looked back out the window for a moment. “Buck wasn’t lying about the window. It’s big.” He mumbled, looking out at the courtyard where he could see a patient walking along the path.

”Yeah, it is pretty big.” Steve agreed, looking out on the courtyard over Peter’s shoulder. ”Do you think you could spot any cool birds here? Like a parrot or something?” The nurse joked with a grin, turning to look at Peter’s reaction

Peter rolled his eyes amusedly, turning to slap the nurse’s arm lightly with the back of his hand. “You don’t get _parrots_  here, Stevie.” He said matter-of-factly, looking back at the courtyard. “‘s just pigeons. And some other stuff.” He mumbled.

”Right, right.” The nurse chuckled before turning to look at Peter’s room and briefly glanced at the bag on the floor. ”Listen, buddy, I need to check your stuff, just for safety reasons in case you have something that is not allowed.”

 “Hm? Oh, yeah, that’s fine.” Peter mumbled, distracted by a sparrow outside. “May packed my bag, so... I don’t know what’s in there but I’m gonna guess ‘n say there’s not, like, a shotgun.” Peter joked, squinting out the window as he followed the flight path of the bird carefully.

”Funny, Peter.” Steve laughed and crouched down to check the boy’s belongings, making sure to check all the pockets of the bag and found nothing worth confiscating. ”Seems your aunt packed well, you’re good to go. Except for one thing.”

 “One thing? I haven’t got anything worth confiscating!” Peter said, turning to look at Steve with a frown on his face. “Unless Aunt May really _did_  pack a shotgun, but that’s not my fault! She did that!” He cried. “Wait, we don’t even _own_  a gun... Fuck, now I’m confused.” He grumbled, sitting with his back to the window.

”There’s no shotgun.” The nurse chuckled. ”I’m talking about your phone.” Steve said, but didn’t make a move to take it yet and just stood with his hands in his pockets in a relaxed pose.

Peter looked down at his phone, then back at the nurse, and his face dropped. “Stevie, please...” He said, cradling it to his chest. “I-It’s just for music, I told you, I-I _need_  it. Please, please don’t take it.” He knew the rule about phones in the facility, that they would stay with the nurses for the duration of the patient’s stay. “I-I don’t wanna give it in, _please_ , can’t I keep it?” He pleaded, chewing hard on his bottom lip.

”I’m afraid I can’t, Peter, I’m sorry. It’s for your own good. But, you can talk to Doctor Stark about it and perhaps you can make a deal about it, okay?” The nurse suggested.

Peter sighed. In theory, he could try and run from the nurse to keep his phone, but seeing the man’s stature reminded Peter of how stocky he was. He slowly took out his headphones before handing his phone over, looking down at the floor with his face screwed up.

”Thank you. And remember to talk to Doctor Stark about it. We are here to help you, so if music helps you, we can make some arrangements.” The nurse tried to comfort the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving a squeeze. ”It’s almost lunchtime now. You want to head down to the canteen with me?”

Peter looked up at the nurse and grimaced at the thought of going down to the canteen. “I have a feeling that’s not an option.” He mumbled, but stood up without much argument. He moved over to the bed, where he placed Spidey against the pillows and patted him into place, before turning back to face the nurse.

Steve shrugged his shoulders a little. Peter wasn’t wrong after all. ”Let’s see what the kitchen staff have made for today.” He said, gesturing to the door once Peter had placed his stuffie safely in his bed.

Peter headed through the door and peered both ways down the corridor. It was relatively empty, so he was fine to be seen walking with a nurse. When Rogers appeared and closed the door behind him, they headed down to the canteen together. Instantly Peter spotted a table by a window in the canteen, and impatiently waited for his food to be served to him before he made a beeline for the chair he wanted to sit in.

Tony was sat in his office making some notes about a session with a patient when he got a message from Steve about Loki. The doctor headed out of his office and straight to the canteen, quickly spotting Loki by scanning the room with his eyes. ”Rogers said you wanted to talk to me. What’s going on?” Tony asked in a hushed voice, sitting down across his patient.

Peter was eating lunch by himself, glancing up and out the window every so often as he ate. The other people didn’t really interest him, but when he saw Doctor Stark enter the canteen, his heart skipped a beat. He became excited, but when the doctor sat down by a different patient, leaning in close and talking to him quietly, Peter frowned. Why was Doctor Stark only talking to this one patient, he didn’t even look at Peter when he came in! His face darkened significantly and he turned back to his sandwich, though he had completely lost his appetite.

Seeing that Peter dropped his sandwich and didn’t touch it for a while, Steve walked over and sat down with him. ”How’s the sandwich?” He asked casually with a little smile

Peter startled when Steve sat down with him, but quickly recovered. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of Doctor Stark and the other patient, glancing over at them every so often. “‘s fine.” He said bluntly, looking back down at his half eaten sandwich.

Steve could see that Peter was eyeing Tony and Loki across the room and tried to distract him. ”I think the sandwiches are fine too, but the lasagna that the staff make? That one is delicious! I could eat it all day.” The nurse said with a chuckle

Peter turned back to see Steve laughing. In all honesty, he wanted to tell the nurse to fuck off and leave him alone, but he could see that Steve was trying to cheer him up. He offered a weak smile in return. “Is that how you got your muscles?” He asked teasingly, taking the tiniest bite out of his sandwich.

Steve laughed genuinely at that, throwing his head back a little. ”Don’t tell that to anyone, though.” The nurse joked placing his finger on his lips. Suddenly, there was a loud cry in the canteen and the patients and staff turned to look at a frustrated Loki.

Peter grinned, copying the finger on his lips. “Secrets safe with me, Stevie.” He murmured, but the sudden outcry from Loki made his head swivel round. He frowned in confusion, wondering what it was about, but saw Doctor Stark trying to calm him down and he couldn’t take his eyes away.

Steve was about to head over and help the doctor, but then he saw Bucky walking over. Together the nurse and doctor helped Loki up from his seat and guided him out of the canteen. Trying to distract Peter again, Steve spoke up again. ”You finished with your food, buddy?”

Peter watched Doctor Stark guide the patient out of the canteen, before he turned back around to look at his partially eaten sandwich. “Y-Yeah, i think I’ve lost my appetite...” Seeing Doctor Stark care for someone who wasn’t him made his stomach drop and his skin burn up, but it’s not like he could tell Steve. He wouldn’t understand.

”That’s all right. You don’t have to eat all of it.” Steve said and got up, gesturing for the boy to follow him. ”Now that you’ve eaten a bit, it’s time for your medication.” The nurse explained

Peter got up too, and was about to follow him before the mention of medication made him stop dead in his tracks. “Medication? Ugh... hate that _shit_.” He grumbled, reluctantly following the man out of the canteen.

”It’s helping you, Peter.” The nurse reminded with a little smile as they headed to the station where the medication was handed out. Behind a window, there was another nurse who smiled and greeted Steve. ”Peter Parker needs his meds, ma’am.” The other nurse saluted with a laugh. ”Yes, sir.” And after checking it was correct, she handed out a little paper cup with the pills and another cup of water. ”Here you go.” Steve said, handing it to Peter.

Peter stayed silent as the nurses interacted, but he was quietly amused once they had given him his medication. “You know, for someone with that much muscle, you’re a massive nerd.” He teased, before taking each pill one by one and washing it down with water. “You and Buck, complete nerds. Maybe that’s why you two are a match made in heaven.”

”Massive nerd you say.” Steve chuckled, patting the boy on the shoulder as he took the cups back. ”Open up so I can see that you swallowed them. Just policy, buddy.” Steve said with a little shrug although the trusted Peter to take his meds, unlike other patients.

Peter rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, sticking his tongue flat out to prove he had taken them. He held it for a moment, waiting for Steve to peer into his mouth, and then closed his mouth again. “Yeah, massive nerd. I said what I said, deal with it.” He teased, pulling a face at the nurse.

”Yeah, yeah, Parker.” Steve chuckled and gave the boy a friendly little shove. ”You can head back to your room or wander around if you want. I’ll come fetch you in an hour or so.” The nurse said as he stayed by the station as other patients began to gather to get their medication too.

Peter let out a shocked gasp, pretending to stumble back when the nurse pushed him. He started forward like he was going to push the man back, but grinned and stayed where he was. “M’kay. See you in a bit, Rogers!” He called behind him as he began to roam the corridors, hands in his pockets and his head in the clouds.

Steve watched the boy walk off with a little smile before tending to his other patients. An hour so passed and he got a message from Tony that he was ready to see Peter and the nurse headed to find Peter.


	17. 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony try age regression again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 200+ kudos and 50+ comments? you guys are nuts!! thank you so much, and keep them coming if you wanna see more chapters! x

Peter got bored of walking around after a while, so he headed back to his room. He grabbed Spidey off the pillow, hugging him tightly and burying his face in the stuffies fur. Lying back on the bed, he started to throw the stuffie up towards the ceiling and then catching him. He did this a couple of times, making a game out of it until Steve showed up.

Steve found Peter in his room, tossing his stuffie onto the air and couldn't help but smile. He couldn't quite believe that just a month ago, the boy would snap and curse at him whenever he got the chance. And now he was being open and vulnerable. Stark was damn good, Steve thought to himself. ”Hey, there. Ready to see the Doc?”

Peter caught the stuffie in his arms, cradling it when he saw the nurse standing at the door. “I guess.” He mumbled, getting up and out of the bed. The memory of Doctor Stark being so interested in his conversation with the other patient had burnt itself into his mind, but these sessions were mandatory, so...

”You can bring your buddy with you, if you wish.” The nurse chirped as he stood by the door

Peter looked back at the stuffie on the bed, grabbing it quickly before heading out of the door with the nurse. He didn’t want to seem babyish, so he simply held Spidey by one of his legs as they walked, dragging it along with him as they made their way to Doctor Stark’s office. Rogers knocked on the door, and Peter bit his lip nervously.

Tony was sat by his desk, writing notes on Loki and what they had talked about, when he heard the knock on the door and a second later Steve entered with Peter stood by his side. "Come on in, Peter. See you brought Spidey with you." The doctor said with a smile and got up, gesturing to the two comfortable chairs facing one another in the room.

It was weird how just seeing Doctor Stark was enough to propel him into littlespace. “Hi.” He mumbled, picking up Spidey properly and cuddling him to his chest. “I didn’t wanna leave him alone in my room. Trouble making ‘n stuff.” Peter said, moving to sit on one of the comfy chairs.

”I see.” The doctor smiled, sitting down across from Peter with a notepad in his lap. ”So, how was it to return to the facility? How was lunch?”

Peter sat cross legged, Spidey safe in his lap, and his gaze firmly on the floor as he thought to himself. “It was fine. I... Steve sat with me for lunch.” He said quietly. He wasn’t gonna mention how the sight of the Doctor with another patient made his stomach do somersaults, and made his fists clench unnecessarily. He wasn’t going to mention that, but the memory of it had branded itself into his retinas, and he frowned to himself.

”You said it was fine, but why are you frowning then?” The doctor asked, genuinely concerned that something had happened. Perhaps he should have kept Peter on the ward for another day.

“Huh?” Peter asked, looking up at the man with a confused expression, but then realised that he was in fact frowning. He quickly dropped his expression. “Oh, it’s- it’s nothing. ‘m fine, I swear.” He lied, not quite meeting the man’s eyes as he spoke.

The boy was obviously lying, but the doctor pressed on with a reminder. ”It’s okay, Peter. You can tell me anything.”

 “I don’t wanna talk about it!” He said suddenly, gripping Spidey even tighter than before. “Y-You’d just laugh at me.” He pouted, bowing his head to look back down at the floor.

”I would never laugh at you, Peter. It is my job to listen to whatever you have to say and be professional about it.” Tony assured, trying to catch the boy’s eyes

Peter shook his head frantically, clearly refusing to play ball. Not only was it stupid in his mind, it would suggest his crush towards the Doctor, which when aged up like this, Peter would rather die than admit to. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He huffed, still refusing to look up.

”All right.” Tony said and backed down and the two of them fell silent for a while. ”Is there something you do want to talk about?”

No matter how much Peter didn’t want to tell the Doctor why he was upset, it continued to prod at him in the back of his mind. He took a deep breath before speaking. “IsawyoutalkingtothatotherpatientandIdidn’tlikeitbecauseyou’reMYdaddyanditmademeupset.” He rambled in one breath, so fast that he wasn’t sure whether he had even said all of the words in the sentence.

Tony was rarely taken aback by what his patients, but he did raise his eyebrows slightly. ”You got upset. Tell me more about that.”

“I...” Peter didn’t last very long aged up before he slipped further into littlespace, his entire body language shifting to make himself seem smaller without him even realising. “Y-You were talking to him, and I thought you were... you were replacing me, n’ that you got sick of me as your... your...” Peter couldn’t finish the sentence, but he took a deep breath and continued. “I thought you were l-leaving me, like everybody else does.” And then, in a whisper: “Like Ben did.”

Tony noticed the change in Peter’s headspace and couldn’t help but feel proud of the breakthrough he had achieved with his patient in such a short period of time. ”You thought I was leaving you. How did that make you feel?”

 “Sad. Cos... cos y-you’re my daddy, n’... I would’a missed you. But... I wouldn’t have been able to stop it.” He mumbled, bringing his thumb up to his mouth. His other hand went to Spidey’s fur, tangling and untangling his fingers in the soft mess as he tried to center himself.

Tony nodded as he listened to the boy open up. ”You wouldn’t have been able to stop it. What do you mean by that?”

 “I just... I can’t stop you from leavin’. I can’t stop anyone from leavin’, they just... go. ‘s not my decision so I can’t... I can’t change anything.” He said, moving to lie down on the couch and hide his face in Spidey’s fur.

”Who are they?” Tony asked as he looked at Peter curl up on the sofa with his stuffie.

 “‘s just... everybody. I don’t...” Peter turned away from the Doctor, facing the back of the sofa with his stuffie in his arms. “I don’t want you to leave.” He mumbled, bringing his knees up to his chest.

Scribbling a few notes on his notepad, Tony set it aside and rose from his seat to sit next to Peter on the sofa. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and waited for the boy to elaborate on his thoughts and feelings.

Peter flinched when he felt the hand on his shoulder, as it was unexpected, but settled down quickly. “I don’t like people leaving. Makes me feel like I’m... like I’m some kinda toy that they’ve gotten bored of or somethin’. I dunno.” He said quietly.

Tony squeezed the boy’s shoulder reassuringly. ”Tell me about an instance where you had these feelings.”

Peter paused for a moment, before shaking his head. “I don’t... don’t wanna...” he mumbled incoherently, curling up even smaller into the ball he was in. He didn’t move away from Doctor Stark’s touch though, in fact he leaned towards it, seeking the contact comfort.

”Okay, we can talk more about that another time.” Tony assured, figuring that Peter had said enough for one day. ”You were so brave for telling me, Peter. You did so well, such a brave and good boy.” He said, bringing his hand up to stroke gently at the boy’s cheek.

Peter squirmed on the sofa, his eyes shut and his entire head desperately trying to lean into the touch of Doctor Stark’s hand against his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy...” he mumbled, running his hands through Spidey’s fur again. He did feel a _little_  better for getting it off his chest, and so his shoulders relaxed. “Can... Can we play now?” He asked hopefully, opening his eyes to look up at the doctor.

Moving his hand away, Tony looked down at the boy. ”Sure. I don’t have as many toys here in my office, but I’m sure we can find something fun.” The doctor smiled, offering his hand to help the boy up

Peter rolled over on the couch, looking up at the man’s outstretched hand and taking it to haul himself up off the couch. Once standing, he almost seemed to shrink in on himself, looking around the office warily. He realised suddenly that he’d never been in here before, and the need to explore every nook and cranny became almost overwhelming.

Leading the boy back to the two chairs and the little table in between them, Tony let go of his hand to search some of the cupboards. ”Let's see then.” He thought aloud until his eyes landed on a part of an intelligence test. ”What about the game with the blocks? Do you remember?” He offered to the boy, turning back to look at him.

Peter didn’t expect to continue holding hands with the Doctor, but blushed very easily when he was lead over to the table and chairs by the hand. He wished he had held on just a little bit longer, but when Stark let go he moved to sit in front of the table, on the floor. “Oh, yeah, the blocks!” He said, nodding as he remembered the task.

”You wanna have another go at that?” The doctor asked, showing the box where the blocks were

Peter nodded, bouncing a couple of times on his knees as he watched the man pull the box of blocks down from the shelf and bring them over. Instantly, Peter was all over it, sticking his hand in to find the cards and hand them over to Doctor Stark. He put Spidey on the table and faced him in the direction of the man and the boy, like he was watching what was happening.

”All right. You ready?” The doctor asked with the cards in his hands as he looked over at Peter. ”We’ll start off easy.” Tony said, pulling the first card and showing it to the boy

Peter nodded, peering closely at the card and then down at the box of blocks. He began muttering to himself as he worked again, but this time it was as if he was holding conversation with his stuffie. “Will this one work, Spidey? No... that’s not got the bit on the side there...” he mumbled, allowing him to process his thoughts properly by saying them out loud. After a minute, he showed the arrangement to Doctor Stark.

Tony couldn’t help but smile at the boy as he talked to himself. If only he could be in little space all day everyday and avoid all the demands of the world. Seeing that Peter was done, Tony doublechecked with the card and found that it matched. ”Well done! Off to a good start and here’s the next one.” The doctor praised and moved onto the next card

Peter fist-pumped when he saw that he got the first arrangement correct. He set off quickly on the second one, his head down and his brow furrowed as he concentrated on getting the puzzle right. His mumbles were almost incoherent, but soon he had completed the second arrangement and showed it to Doctor Stark for his approval.

”You got it again! You’re quite the clever boy, Peter.” The doctor praised with a big smile. ”Ready for another?” He asked, flipping the next card

Peter glowed at the praise, a genuine smile spreading across his face for the first time that session, but quickly dropped into a face of pure focus as he studied the card. Again, it didn’t take long for him to start working on the arrangement, and again it only took a few minutes before he was showing it to Doctor Stark for his approval.

”Good boy, well done.” The doctor grinned again, flipping another card. They continued like that for a while until they got to the last cards, which were the hardest ones.

Peter got the hang of it, but when it got to the more difficult cards, he took longer and longer to do each arrangement. His concentration started to dissipate, and he kept making mistakes. It was clear he wasn’t going to last very long.

Seeing that Peter was beginning to struggle, Tony stopped at the one point. ”Okay, last one, little one. I know you can do it.” He encouraged, showing the card.

Peter stopped for a moment, shaking his limbs out before reading the last card. It was a particularly hard one, and it took Peter a while before he had come up with an arrangement. He showed it to the doctor tentatively, holding his breath while he checked it over.

”You got it! Well done, Peter!” The doctor praised with a wide smile. ”You’re so clever!”

Peter cheered with delight when he got the last puzzle correct, picking up the card to compare it to the arrangement he had on the table. He put the card back down after a moment, and hesitated. He stayed frozen for a second before getting up and looping around the table to hug the man quite suddenly, his arms snaking around his midriff like a vice.

Tony was a little taken aback again, but didn’t show that on his face and he embraced the boy. ”You’re so clever, Peter. Such a good boy.” The doctor cooed, stroking the boy’s hair.

Peter grinned as he hugged him, pausing for just a moment before letting his arms unwind from around Stark’s waist. He stayed still for a second, and then promptly proceeded to launch a tickle attack on the man, trying his very best to make him laugh. “Wh- How come you’re not ticklish!”

Tony just chuckled when Peter tried to tickle him, but didn’t budge besides that. ”I don’t know honestly. Tickle attacks never worked on me.” The doctor explained as he slowly moved his hands closer to Peter’s ribs. ”But, what about you? Are you ticklish?” Tony growled playfully as he began tickling the boy.

Peter was distracted by the doctor’s words, so when the wandering fingers began to attack his ribs, he squealed in shock. “W-Wolfie no! N-No, no, n-Ahah! Have mercy, Mr. Wolf!” He wailed, thrashing in the man’s grip.

With one arm, Tony stopped the boy from escaping and continued tickling with the other. He didn’t stop until the boy was howling with laughter and tears in his eyes. ”Okay, okay, I’ll show you some mercy. For now.” He chuckled darkly without releasing the boy from his grasp.

Peter squealed again as he was pulled into the man's lap, tossing and turning as he tried to escape his grip. His laughter got more and more hysterical until he was squeaking, and pinpricks of tears started to fill the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over. His head was tucked against the man's chest, and his hands came up to grip at his shirt as he was tickled relentlessly. When Doctor Stark eventually stopped tickling him, he thought he'd let go of him entirely, but the arm wrapped around his waist stopped him from moving off of his lap, and so he looked up at the man with wide eyes. "M-Mister Wolf?" He asked uncertainly.

Once Peter calmed down from his laughing fit, Tony still held him in his lap. ”Yes, little one?” He asked back with a gentle smile

Doctor Stark's deep brown eyes and gentle smile made the boy blush, and so he bowed his head again to hide the colouring of his cheeks. "Nothin'..." he mumbled, still gripping onto the man's shirt.

”All right then.” The doctor said. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Tony saw that they had 20 minutes or so left, which meant he had to help Peter age up again gently. ”Peter, can you be a big boy for me? I have something we need to discuss.”

Peter huffed out one final breath to calm down after the tickling frenzy, before moving back a little bit so he could see the man's face properly. "Mhm? What is it?" He asked, his breath fanning the man's face due to how close they were from Peter sitting in his lap.

”It’s about how often we should see one another. You can make a request, but I cannot promise that I can grant it, but we can work something out together, okay?” The doctor explained, raising his brows a little

Peter hummed, bringing a thumb to his lips in thought. "I just... I wanna see you all the time." He admitted, his eyes looking everywhere but Stark's face out of embarrassment. "I liked... I liked seeing you a lot when I was in the hospital room."

”I know, little one.” Tony said, bouncing his leg so that Peter also bounced on his lap. ”But you saw me a lot of the ward because your condition wasn’t good. Now, you’re much better and got to leave so you don’t need my attention as much. Do you understand?” The doctor explained

Peter looked down as he spoke, chewing on his lip as he thought to himself. “I understand, but... I liked it anyway.” He mumbled, bouncing along with the doctor’s knee. “Can I see you every day?”

”We will have our daily sessions, yes. But the question is do you need more than that?” Tony explained and bounced his leg again.

Peter couldn't help giggling when Doctor Stark bounced him on his knee again, his brown curls getting in his eyes. "Uhm... I _want_  more than that... Wanna see Daddy all the time, 'n be little with him..." He admitted, curling his hands up in the doctor's labcoat again.

”We can’t be together all the time because I’m a busy doctor, but we can try and meet twice a day. How does that sound?” Tony suggested, letting the boy cling onto him and rubbed a hand on his back.

Peter paused for a moment, thinking it over. "Alright. Deal." He said resolutely, offering his pinky finger wordlessly to the doctor.

Holding his own picky out, Tony sealed the deal with a little shake. ”Deal.” Glancing at the clock again, the doctor tapped the boy’s nose. ”Now it’s time to be a really big boy, mister.” Tony said with a little laugh. ”Our time is almost up.”

Peter whined, jutting his bottom lip out into a pout. He dared to prod his fingertips into the man’s sides. “I’ll tickle you til you let me stay here!” He cried, drumming his fingertips against the doctor as he refused to get up.

”You know tickling doesn’t work on me, Peter.” Tony chuckled and lifted his hands to wiggle his fingers. ”But I know someone who is very ticklish...” He said with a grin

Peter watched as the doctor’s face contorted into an evil grin, and he felt his stomach drop. “N-No, you... you wouldn’t! Mis-Mister Wolf, you’re so evil, you...” He scrambled to get away from the man, trying to get off of his lap so he could crawl backwards away from him.

Letting the boy scramble off his lap, Tony sat back in his seat and lifted his hands up in defeat. ”I’ll let you get away this time, pretty boy.” The doctor chuckled with a glint in his eyes

Peter scrambled backwards until he was off the man’s lap, standing up with his fists clenched. He gulped at the evil glint in the man’s eye, his own eyes wide and innocent as they gazed at each other. After a moment, he looked towards Spidey, who was still on the table, and lunges forward to grab him. “You’re not getting Spidey either!” He cried, but the words “pretty boy” ricocheted around his head and echoed in his ears.

The doctor chuckled and raised his hands again to show that he wasn’t going to attack. ”You and Spidey are safe from Mr Wolfie. At least for now...” Tony said and winked at the boy

Peter shivered at that, a whole body shudder that he hoped wasn’t noticed by the doctor. He cradled the stuffie to his chest, keeping eye contact to the man the entire time. “Y-You’re _evil_.” He said, shuffling on his feet. “I... I like when you pretend like this, Daddy.” He admitted, blushing hard.

Tony smiled at that, making a little mental note on how Peter dared to play pretend with a scary character and feel safe at the same time, let alone admit that he liked that game. ”We can play more Mr Wolfie tomorrow.” The doctor assured and then there was a knock at the door and Steve entered. ”Oh, and there’s your Hunter.” Tony chuckled

Peter nodded, a soft yet excited smile on his face at the thought of playing it tomorrow too, before looking to the door when it opened. “Stevie!” He said, grinning again. As he wandered over to greet him, he looked back at Stark. “You know Stevie’s a nerd?” He said to the doctor, giggling. “Under all that muscle, he’s a huuuuuge neeeeerd.” He teased.

”Oh, I know.” Tony agreed, giving the nurse a cheeky smirk when he pulled an offended face. ”So, you two have teamed up against me now?” Steve joked

Peter shrugged nonchalantly, grinning at the two men. “I dunno... Doctor Stark’s evil, ‘n he keeps trying to get me.” Peter said, and stuck his tongue out at the man. “Evil wolfie!” He teased, leaning in closer to Steve as a means of protection.

Steve wrapped an arm around the boy and pulled him closer with a chuckle. ”Mr Wolfie may be evil, yes, but what about Doctor Stark? What do you think about him?” The nurse asked and Tony put on a kinder facial expression where he still remained seated.

Peter hummed, thinking to himself. In truth, he liked Doctor Stark a lot. He didn’t know if he /loved/ him, but he definitely had a crush. He wondered if Stark could tell that he did. He continued to ponder it over, slightly distracted by the weight of Steve’s arm across his waist. “Uhm... He’s... He’s nice.” Pretty. Funny. Kind. Every possible positive adjective under the sun. “Yeah. He’s nice.” Peter mumbled, offering a shy smile back to the Doctor, who was watching him.

Tony bowed his head a little in a thank you before rising from his seat and straightened his white coat. ”Do you want to spend some time with Steve, Peter? You’re still not as aged up as I’d like you to be so that you can be left alone.” The doctor said, walking over to the two and standing in front of them.

 “If... If Steve wants to.” Peter said, nervously looking up at the man. “He might not want to, I’ve been makin’ fun of him a lot recently.” He said cheekily, sticking the tip of his tongue out between his teeth at the man in question.

Both Steve and Tony laughed at that and the nurse moved to grab the boy in a gentle headlock, ruffling his hair. ”Oh, you little rascal!”

Peter squealed in delight, bent over double as Steve’s arm secured itself around his neck. “Lemme go! Let go!” He laughed, slapping the nurse’s arm lightly. “Wolfie, help, he- he’s _attacking_  me!” He squeaked, lifting his head to try and pull his best puppy dog eyes expression at the doctor stood in front of him.

”No, you’re all mine now!” Steve said with a growl before letting the boy go, but still held him close with an arm around his shoulders. ”We could go outside for a walk and check out the birds. How does that sound?” The nurse suggested

Peter squealed again as the man growled, but calmed down when Steve let go of his neck. “Y-Yeah! A walk sounds good.” He said, looking back at the door and walking with the nurse towards it. He turned back quickly to wave goodbye to Doctor Stark, his smile soft and shy before he left the office and made his way to the courtyard with Steve.

”I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tony said and waved Peter goodbye.


	18. 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter tells a secret, and meets another patient.

”So, where are we headed?” Steve asked once they were outside.

Peter peered around the courtyard, quickly spotting that the bench he and Doctor Stark had sat on the other day was empty. He dragged Steve over to it by the forearm, clutching Spidey in his other hand and sitting on the bench cross legged. “Me ‘n Doctor Stark sat here last time.” He mumbled, thinking about the Doctor again.

Steve let himself be pulled over to the bench and sat down next to him. ”Did you spot some birds together?” The nurse asked.

 “Mhm!” Peter nodded, looking out over the courtyard to see what was around today. Just a couple of pigeons pecking at the concrete and up a nearby tree. He turned back to Steve. “What do you do when you’re, like, not here?” He asked, pulling Spidey into his lap properly and placing the tip of his thumb between his lips.

Sitting back, Steve placed his arms across the back of the bench and thought about the question. ”I work out a lot, obviously.” The nurse laughed and gestured at himself. ”And then I hang out with my boyfriend.”

Peter giggled, poking the man’s bicep with his outstretched index finger. When Steve mentioned his boyfriend, Peter gasped loudly, his eyes wide and his mouth an O shape. “You have a _boyfriend_?! It’s Bucky, isn’t it!! You guys are practically _married_ , it’s _gotta_ be Bucky! Tell me tell me tell me tell me!” He squealed, poking the man incessantly in the ribs to tease him.

Steve couldn’t help but laugh and blush a little as he batted Peter’s hand away. ”Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.” The nurse groaned out with a grin. ”It’s Bucky, yes, we’ve been dating for a while now.”

 “Ha!!!” Peter crowed triumphantly, causing the pigeons to startle and fly up into the afternoon sky. “I _k_ _new_  it!!” He laughed, now turning to face Steve entirely. “What’s it like having a boyfriend? Is it nice? Do you go on dates?” He gasped, before leaning in to whisper, “do you _kiss_...?” He said quietly, like it was the world’s most important question.

Steve raised his brows when he was bombarded with questions and blushed a little darker. ”Yeah, yeah. We do go on dates now and then, like go out to eat and catch a movie or something. And we do kiss.” The nurse admitted shyly

Peter squealed with excitement, but then suddenly put a finger to his lips. “I’ll keep it a secret, Stevie. I won’t tell, promise I won't!” He smiled, his toothy grin visible. He seemed to quieten down a bit as he thought to himself. “I want a boyfriend.” He said glumly, pouting his bottom lip out. “But... I don’t think he likes me.” He said to himself.

”Oh, who’s the guy?” Steve asked, a little relieved that the attention was not on his private life anymore.

Peter immediately blushed, shaking his head frantically and looking down at the stuffie on his lap. “I can’t tell you! You... you’ll laugh at me. And, and, and say it’s _dumb_.” He pouted, hunching his shoulders over.

”No, no, buddy. I’d never laugh at you.” Steve assured, lifting his hand to stroke Peter’s cheek and tap him under his chin

Peter made an odd whining noise, like he was stuck between admitting his crush on Doctor Stark and keeping it to himself. "...Okay. But you have to _promise_ that you won't tell _anyone_ , okay?! Pinky promise me!" He said, sticking his pinky finger out and in front of Steve's face.

Turning to face Peter better on the bench, Steve held his pinky out and made the deal. ”Pinky promise!”

Peter shook their hands to emphasise the promise, just like Stark always did, before dropping his hand. He bit down on his lip, before taking a deep breath. "I... I... I have a crush on Doctor Stark." He mumbled, his face burning bright red. "But you promised you aren't gonna tell him, so you can't!! You can't tell _anyone_!" He said, his eyes wide and emotional. "He... You can't!"

The nurse shook his head. ”No, no, I won’t tell anyone. I pinky promised, didn’t I?” Steve smiled. Patient developing crushes on staff was not s new thing and Steve had experienced a fare share of awkward love confessions during his career. ”So, Doctor Stark, huh? He’s pretty, I’ll admit that.”

Peter smiled nervously in response to Steve's reassurance, but he couldn't get rid of the jittering nervousness coursing through him at finally admitting he liked the Doctor. "He's... he's, yeah, he's pretty. Very... very pretty. And... and nice, 'n..." Peter trailed off, clearly distracted by thinking about him.

Steve smiled gently at the boy as he stuttered and blushed. He nodded along as he listened. ”Yeah?”

Peter's gaze dropped to his lap, tangling and untangling his fingers in Spidey's fur. "He's real pretty, 'n... I like his beard." He giggled, thinking about how he liked to run his fingers through the doctor's goatee. "He always makes me happy, 'n... I wanna kiss him a lot." He said that last part in a whisper, under his breath.

Steve didn’t know entirely what to do at that point. A part of him wanted to encourage the boy’s positive feelings and validate them, but another saw how problematic it could be to do precisely that. ”Well, that’s good that he makes you happy. His job is to make you better, after all.” The nurse said with a smile

Peter didn't look up at Steve after that, the blush on his face so bright he looked like a tomato. "Y-You can't tell anyone. _Anyone_ , Stevie." He said, his hands trembling as he fiddled with Spidey's fur. He fell silent after that.

”I promise, your secret is safe with me.” The nurse said and placed his hand on his chest for emphasis. They sat in silence for a while after that.

Peter glanced up at Steve through his eyelashes, but otherwise stayed quiet. After a while, however, he spoke. "Does... Does Doctor Stark like me? Not... not like _that_ , but... as a person? Cos I... I dunno if he does, or if he's just being nice cos it's his job, you know?"

”I can’t speak for Doctor Stark, but based on what I’ve seen I do think that he likes you.” Steve tried to comfort, but still remain professional about it. The boy was starting to age up, so the nurse thought that he could handle a less sugarcoated truth. ”However, you are his patient, Peter. Try not to get too wrapped up in your feelings for him and focus on your own recovery, yeah?”

 “Yeah, yeah, I know...” Peter sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. “‘Feelings for him’... I’m gonna regret ever telling you that, Rogers...” He grumbled, but shoved at the nurses shoulder playfully to show he wasn’t that upset.

Steve chuckled at that and let the boy shove at him half-heartedly. ”Confidentiality is a big deal here, okay? Almost to the point that if you told me that you had murdered someone, I couldn’t tell anyone else about it.” The nurse said with a laugh

 “Oh? Good, then I have some more secrets to tell you.” He deadpanned, looking the man dead in the eye before laughing. “Nah, just kiddin’.” He sat in silence for a moment. “Thanks for, uh, coming out here ‘n sitting with me. It was nice.” He said, looking back out over the courtyard where a couple of sparrows had landed on a nearby tree branch.

”Oh, come on.” The nurse laughed at the boy’s joke. ”You’re very welcome, buddy.” Steve said with a smile and moved to stand up, looking over at the birds that Peter was watching. ”Shall we head back? It’s getting a little chilly now.”

Peter nodded, following the man’s movements so that he too stood up, with one of Spidey’s legs gripped in his hand. They headed indoors together, and Peter was escorted back to his room and left alone until dinner time.

\---

Around dinner time, Bucky started walking around to make sure all the patients were headed to the canteen. He went around the wings, knocking on doors and fetching patients from different shared rooms like the little library and sitting areas. ”You coming, Parker?” The nurse asked, knocking on Peter’s half open door.

Peter was in bed, dozing in and out of a nap when Bucky came knocking. He startled, mumbling a “Yeah, yeah, coming...” as he slowly sat up on the mattress. He got up and left the room, his gaze on Bucky lingering for a second as he remembered what Steve told him, and a wry, knowing smile rugged at his lips. When he got down to the canteen, he took his tray and saw to his dismay that there were no empty tables. He huffed, before moving to sit at the table with the patient that Peter recognised from earlier.

Loki looked up when he heard a tray being set down across him and shot a glare up at the person. He didn’t say anything and continued to poke at his food. Stood by the wall, Steve and Bucky whispered to one another. ”Peter sat down with Loki.” Steve pointed out. ”I hope Loki doesn’t scare him off. They could both use a friend here.” Bucky hummed as he watched the scene unfold from afar while keeping an eye on the other patients as well.

Peter blinked owlishly when the patient glared at him so viciously, but seeing as he didn’t specifically say Peter couldn’t sit at the table, he sat down regardless. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Peter spoke up. “The food here isn’t great, huh? I, uh, I heard one of the nurses say they could eat the lasagna all day but... I think he might’ve been lying.” He said, stifling a nervous laugh as he looked down at his plate, glancing over at the other patient occasionally.

Loki chuckled at that, but only briefly before his face became expressionless again. ”Rogers told me that too. Asshole thinks he’s funny.”

Peter frowned for a second, but quickly recovered. “You think he’s an asshole? He’s not that bad... I mean sure, he’s got more muscles than he does brains, but... he’s nice, right?”

Loki scoffed and dropped his fork with a loud clatter before he finally raised his head to look at the boy in front of him. ”If you think that, you must be new here.”

Peter flinched at how loudly the fork landed on the patients plate, also looking up to meet his gaze. Instantly he was greeted with piercing green eyes, and Peter had an odd feeling they were looking right through him. “What do you mean? What would _you_  know that I don’t?” He frowned.

”I’ve been in and out of this shithole for years now. I know all the ins and outs of this place, as well as all the staff.” Loki said and glared at the nurses stood by the wall, wrinkling his nose in disgust. ”So, stop with the puppy eyes and grow the fuck up.”

Peter didn’t look over at the nurses, instead continuing to look straight at the patient he was sat with. “Grow u- I do _not_  have “puppy eyes”, thank you.” He huffed, breathing heavily out through his nostrils to calm down. He shouldn’t ask this asshole his opinion about Doctor Stark. Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t- “So if that’s the case, what’s your view on Stark? Is he an asshole too?”

”He’s the only one I can tolerate. At least for 20 minutes, but only if he doesn’t pretend to care, which he rarely does.” Loki explained with a bland tone and looked down at his food with indifference until someone entered the canteen. ”But that’s the biggest asshole, right there.” Loki said and gestured lazily to Doctor Strange who had entered the canteen.

 “Pretend to care... Stark doesn’t _pretend_  to care... does he?” Peter wondered aloud. When Strange came in, he swivelled to look, and instantly got a cold chill. “Fuck. I’ve, uh, I’ve only spoken to him once before.” He said, turning back around. “I was transferred to him from Stark, and... and he kept trying to get me to talk to him, even though he had my notes _right there_ , so... so I asked him what it was like to get a PhD without learning how to read.”

Loki snorted at that, but didn’t look the boy in the eye as he did and kept poking at his food. ”That bitch of a doctor prescribed me fucked up meds and I was a whole ass mess for a week. I’m not talking to him ever again. He should have his license taken away for malpractice.” Loki spat his twisted truth.

“Jesus...” Peter murmured, raising his eyebrows as he watched the patient poke at his food with his fork. “I’m, uh, I’m Peter. In case you were wondering. You probably weren’t.” He mumbled, hunching his shoulders and finally taking a bite of the dinner food in front of him. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either.

”Loki, depression.” Loki replied back and didn’t elaborate any further, but did raise his gaze when Peter didn’t say anything. ”Stop with that dumb looking face. What’s yours?”

Peter was about to insult the pa- Loki, back, but he was confused. “What’s my what?” He asked, tilting his head to one side in confusion.

Imitating Peter’s stupid looking face, Loki laughed and shook his head. ”God, you really are new here... I mean what’s your diagnosis?”

Peter rolled his eyes when Loki imitated his face, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to load up his fork with mashed potato and flick it right at the prick’s face. “I don’t know.” He bristled, crossing his arms as if he were shielding himself. “Not off the top of my head.”

Loki scoffed at that and shook his head in disbelief again. He was growing tired of Peter’s puppy eyes. ”Why don’t you go over to the doctor and ask him for one, hm?” Loki said with a grin and gestured to Strange who was walking over to their table. ”Everything all right here?” Stephen asked, seeing that Loki nor Peter had touched their food for a long time while other patients were finished and getting up to leave.

Wait, what? “No, don’t, what the fuck are you doing! What’re y-“ His angry whispers were cut off by Strange’s arrival at their table, and Peter looked down at his plate. “Yeah, everything’s fine, I- We just got caught up in conversation, that’s all.” Peter said, sending a death-glare in Loki’s direction who seemed to be enjoying Peter’s embarrassment greatly. “I’m... probably gonna head back to my room now anyway.” He said lamely.

”Ah-ah, sit down. Neither of you are leaving until you finish at least half of your plate.” Stephen said and gestured to Loki and Peter’s still almost full plates. ”Who the fuck are you to tell us what to do? You don’t even work here.” Loki pointed out sharply, but Stephen remained unbothered. ”I’m covering for Doctor Banner for a few days, who’s sick with the flu, so I speak with the same authority as he does.” The doctor explained simply, his face more or less expressionless, but there was no bite in his tone.

Oh _God_. Just his luck to be stuck with the doctor he insulted that one time, and the one patient in this place that could have a hissy fit at the drop of a hat. Peter flopped back into his seat glumly, turning to look at the food on his plate, and then over at Loki, who had a face of thunder. “Loki, just shut up and eat. Don’t make this worse.” He muttered, looking up at the other patient for a moment.

Muttering curses under his breath, Loki picked up his fork again and began eating. Stephen seemed somewhat pleased and left their table to go stand by Steve and Bucky. ”Did it seem like the boys were bonding?” Steve asked the doctor. ”Bonding over their shared hatred for me. That’s something isn’t it?” Stephen shrugged and both nurses winced a little in sympathy. ”Loki still blames you for what happened?” Bucky asked and Stephen nodded. ”I’m afraid so.”

Peter went back to eating as well, and by this point they were two of the last patients still eating in the canteen. Hoping to break the awkward silence, Peter spoke again. “Loki’s a cool name. Do people call you ‘Lo’ for short?” He asked, chewing around another mouthful and gazing at the patient sat opposite.

”For fucks sake...” Loki grumbled and picking up his tray, he got up and slammed the tray by the cleaning station where all the trays were brought back. ”I ate half like you said, asshole, so don’t fucking start with me!” Loki shouted out, pointing an accusing finger at Stephen who was standing the two nurses before leaving the canteen.

Peter watched with wide eyes as Loki stormed out of the canteen, his fork stationary in his hand. Part of him felt a little upset that Loki apparently didn’t like him, but he chose to ignore that feeling so he could keep eating. Soon, he had eaten 3/4s of the meal and was getting full, so he went and put the tray back by the cleaning station. On the way out, he waved shyly at the nurses and even offered Strange a nervous smile before heading back to his room.


	19. 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter has a nightmare, and progress is made with loki.

Just like during dinner time, Bucky went around the different wings checking that everyone was headed for bed before lights were supposed to be switched off. The nurse knocked on Peter’s half open door. ”Peter, you headed for bed?”

 “Hm?” Peter looked up from where he was lying on his mattress, staring up at the ceiling. “Oh, yeah, yeah, I am.” He nodded, standing up to greet the nurse.

”Lights are supposed to be off in half an hour.” The nurse said, leaning against the door frame with a friendly and casual smile.

 “Right, right...” Peter walked to the other side of the room where his bag rested on his chair, sticking his hand inside it to gather up his pyjamas. He looked over at Bucky, but a cheeky grin pulled at his lips and threatened to spread over his entire face. “You sure you wanna be spending this time talking to me? I’m sure _Steve_  would love your company before lights-out.” He said, pointedly not looking up from his bag, but the teasing was clear in his voice.

Bucky chuckled and knocked on the door frame with his knuckles before standing up straight. ”Good night, Parker.” And then the nurse left.

Peter grinned after him, moving to close the door over and head to the bathroom to get changed. He brushed his teeth too, and soon got into bed when the lights turned out.

From there, he slept peacefully for a couple of hours before the nightmare began.

In it, he was back in his house with Uncle Ben, desperately trying to negotiate with the mugger standing across from them. It seemed that the mugger had Loki’s voice, and amidst the confusion and the panic, a gunshot went off. He turned to see Uncle Ben collapsed on the floor, dark red trickling out of him, and that was when Peter woke up with an outcry, to a dark, cold room with the door cracked open. He panted heavily, bringing his hand up to his face to rub at his eyes.

Covering for Banner included covering the night shift and Stephen yawned where he was sat by the nurse’s station. The doctor figured that getting up and walking could fight off the sleepiness and he got up to do precisely that.

Peter couldn’t breathe. He felt light-headed, but not in a physical sense... He had regressed during his nightmare, and without Doctor Stark to help him, he had no idea what to do. He grabbed Spidey from the mattress and stood up, slipping on his Velcro sneakers under his pyjamas and heading out of his room. He began to wander the halls aimlessly, clinging to his stuffie as he tried to forget about the nightmare.

Stephen stopped in his tracks to listen carefully. He could hear some shuffling footsteps, but wasn’t entirely sure where they were coming from. Turning his head this way and that, the doctor headed down the hall to the left and soon he found a patient wandering in the halls.

Peter sniffled to himself as he walked, his head bowed to look at his feet and his hands tangled up in Spidey’s fur. He was mumbling incoherently to himself, but at the sound of footsteps he froze, his head whipping up to see a darkened figure at the other end of the corridor. He gulped, before nervously calling out: “Wh-Who’re you?” Half of him wanted to run off, the other half wanted him to stay firmly in place.

Stephen approached the patient slowly, his shoulders laid back and casual as not to scare the patient off. Stepping into the light, the doctor spoke. ”I’m Doctor Strange. And you’re Peter. We’ve met before, remember?” The doctor said with a smile, but he frowned a little when he got close enough to see Peter’s face. ”What’s the matter?”

Peter stayed exactly where he was, clutching Spidey between his arms as he looked the Doctor up and down. “I... I had a-a nightmare ‘n... it was really s-scary ‘n my Daddy isn’t here to help, ‘n...” he mumbled, looking around the corridor wildly. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, biting on his lip hard enough to hurt.

Stephen noticed that the boy was in his littlespace even before he spoke and put on a more friendly and kinder face. ”Yeah, I get that your Daddy isn’t here. But, I am here though if you want to talk about the nightmare or anything that’s on your mind. Would you like me to stay with you?” Actually, the patient didn’t have much of a choice, as the staff rarely let them be in little space by themselves. Still, it would be nicer if the patient felt like they were given a choice.

Peter paused for a moment, before slowly nodding. “Yes, please.” He mumbled, his hand coming up to put his thumb in his mouth, a sure sign he was deep in littlespace. He didn’t want to talk about the nightmare, not with this stranger, but it was better than being alone. Hesitantly, he walked over to the doctor and held his arms out for a hug.

Stephen opened his arms right away and pulled the boy close, rubbing his back soothingly with one hand. ”It’s okay, you’re safe here, it’s okay.” The doctor shushed

Peter buried his face into the man’s labcoat, and gently began to cry when he heard the doctor’s soothing words. They weren’t loud cries, just soft little gasps that shook his shoulders and caused tears to cascade down his cheeks. At the back of his mind, he was mildly aware that his tears were getting onto Strange’s labcoat, but he didn’t particularly care. He didn’t say anything to the man, just held him tightly and sobbed until he couldn’t cry any more.

Stephen held the boy steady as he cried, rubbing his back and spoke soothing words. ”It’s okay, cry it out, Peter. You’re safe here, it’s all right. You’ll be okay.” The doctor said quietly

Peter settled down after a couple of minutes, sniffling every so often with his shoulders still trembling. However, he made no attempt to move away from the Doctor once he had stopped crying, instead choosing to stay wrapped up in his arms with his face buried into Strange’s labcoat.

He eventually picked up his stuffie and let go of the Doctor, holding Spidey up to him. “This... this is Spidey.” He mumbled, insisting on making sure they were greeted.

Even when Peter pulled away, Stephen still held a hand on his shoulder for comfort. ”Spidey, it’s pleasure to meet you.” Stephen said and shook one of the stuffie’s limbs in a handshake. ”And what type of spider is Spidey?” The doctor asked the boy

Peter giggled when Strange shook the spider’s leg with utmost sincerity. “Bucky did that too when he met Spidey...” he mumbled, looking down at the stuffie and his beady eyes. “Uhm... he’s... he’s a ta-ran-choo-la.” He said, slowing down his pronounciation of tarantula to make sure he got it right. “They’re the fluffy ones, right? I’ve held one before.” He said, puffing his chest out proudly.

”Oh, you have? That was very brave of you, little one! Lots of people are terrified of spiders, but you seem to get along with them just fine.” The doctor chuckled as he watched the boy and how he handled his precious toy.

Peter grinned, holding the stuffie tightly and petting its head with one hand. “Spidey’s not scary. He’s fluffy ‘n cute!” He said, wiggling Spidey’s legs about. “Why’re you in the halls?” He asked, his concentration clearly slipping as he hopped from one conversation topic to the next.

”I’m covering the night shift for Doctor Banner, so I wander around making sure everyone’s all snuggled up and sleeping.” The doctor explained and added. ”Where’s your room, buddy?”

Peter hummed thoughtfully. “It’s...” he paused, looking around the darkened halls. “It’s over that way.” He pointed behind him and off to the right. “Are you gonna make me go back to sleep?” He asked, his face dropping. He didn’t want to have another nightmare.

Stephen sighed a little. ”Little boys need their rest. And beauty sleep isn’t just for girls.” Stephen said with a smile, tapping the boy’s nose.

Peter squealed, batting the man’s finger away from him. “I don’t need _beauty sleep_... I’m already beautiful.” He joked, snorting to himself. It was clear he didn’t actually think that, but he pretended to toss his hair with his fingertips.

”That’s true, but you still need your rest, Peter. Come on.” Stephen said and ushered the boy down the hall where he had pointed to. ”I can sit with you till you fall asleep, all right?” The doctor offered, hoping that would make the boy want to go back to bed

Peter sighed, but ultimately followed the doctor down the hall, until he recognised where he was and gestured Strange to follow him back to his room. When they got there, Peter reluctantly got back into bed and held Spidey close to him, watching as Doctor Strange moved his bag off of his chair to sit down.

Stephen crossed his legs where he sat and placed his hands in his lap. ”Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

Peter froze, before shuffling further under the covers and turning to face away from the Doctor. “Not really.” He mumbled under his breath, muffled by the covers he was under.

”That’s all right. I’ll be right here till you fall asleep.” The doctor assured before falling silent so that Peter would hopefully fall asleep swiftly.

Peter nodded, closing his eyes and trying his best to fall asleep. It took a little while, the memories of his nightmare making him whimper in his sleep, but soon he had fallen asleep properly with Spidey clutched safely in his arms.

Stephen sat until Peter’s breathing had evened out and he was sure he had fallen asleep. The doctor sneaked out the room quietly and continued checking the wing before heading back to the nurse’s station to make notes of what had happened with Peter.

\---

The next morning, Peter woke up exhausted. After the turmoil of last night and crying his eyes out into Strange’s labcoat, Peter could have fallen right back to sleep. However, he knew that the nurses would be checking up on people and knocking on doors, so he reluctantly got up and out of bed to put his favourite facility-approved hoodie and sweatpants on. He then sat by the windowsill, looking out to the courtyard until someone came to collect him.

”Breakfast is ready, buddy.” Bucky said to Loki when he knocked on his door. The raven-haired boy emerged out of his room like a stormy cloud and glared at the nurse.

”Don’t call me that.”

”All right then, bud.” The nurse said and chuckled at the look the patient gave him. The two of them walked down the hall together and stopped by Peter who was sat on his windowsill.

Peter’s mind was elsewhere, and it took several calls of his name for his attention to be brought to the door. He glanced over, seeing Bucky stood at the doorframe, and he smiled gently before hopping off the windowsill. When he exited the room, he found Loki standing nearby with the same thunderous expression on his face as always. “Heya, Lo.” He said, trying his very best to hold back a grin.

”Shut up, puppy eyes.” The boy snapped back, but couldn’t help but smile just a little bit.

Peter stuck his tongue out at the black-haired boy, but didn’t say anything insulting back as they made their way to the canteen.

”You guys hungry or what?” The nurse tried to make small talk as they headed to the canteen.

“I could eat.” Peter shrugged, noticing how Loki refused to say anything. When they got to the canteen, Peter got his breakfast and moved to sit at the table he sat at yesterday, knowing that was Loki’s usual table.

Just like Peter, Loki grabbed a tray for himself and sat down across from Peter and began nibbling at his food.

Peter glanced up at Loki every so often as he ate, surprised that he didn’t mention how Peter was sat at his table. After a few moments, he broke the silence. “So, uhm, if you hate Doctor Strange, does that mean you get seen by Doctor Stark instead?” He asked. He was curious to see how Stark acted with other patients, and how Loki reacted to Stark.

”I see Banner the most, but Stark now and then for the age regression stuff.” Loki answered simply, not looking Peter in the eye as he did.

Peter paused at that. “Wait, you do... you do age regression therapy as well?” He asked, looking at the boy sat opposite with wide, inquisitive eyes. He wondered what Loki was like in littlespace, probably far less volatile and rude. “I, uhm, I see Stark for my regression stuff.” He admitted quietly.

Loki only hummed in response and ate his food, but only took little bites. ”It’s odd.” The boy pointed out and at Peter’s confused expression, he added more to his statement. ”That Stark hasn’t given you a diagnosis yet. Maybe the doc’s out of his depth. You don’t seem that fucked though.” Loki thought aloud.

Peter poked at his food, thinking about it. “I dunno. He’s probably keeping it from me, to stop me from being more... fucked.” He said, mumbling the last word. He could hear Stark at the back of his mind saying how he didn’t like when Peter cursed. “I don’t think he’s out of his depth, he’s not... he’s not an idiot. I don’t think so, anyway.”

Loki didn’t reply and continued to eat, although he did so lazily.

Peter frowned. Loki was kind of a dick, he decided. He was just trying to make polite conversation, and he was getting fuck all from Loki’s responses. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “So, uhm, what do you do with Doctor Banner in your regression therapy?” He asked, glancing up at Loki every so often.

”Shut up already, puppy eyes!” Loki snapped, hitting a clenched fist on the table to get Peter to back off, but he didn’t have much strength to make a loud noise. Still, some patients turned to look in curiosity. ”You ask too many questions.” He muttered before poking at his food.

Peter flinched when Loki’s fist hit the table, but recovered himself quickly. “Stop making so much noise, _greaseball_. Do you want the nurses coming over here and making a scene?” He asked, also ducking his head and poking at his food when he noticed how a few patients were now staring at them. “And just so you know, telling me I have puppy eyes is becoming less and less of an insult. Try another.” He said, unable to keep the grin off his face.

Instead of feeling insulted, Loki couldn’t help but grin at Peter in front of him and look him in the eye. After a moment, he finally spoke. ”You’re all right.”

Peter froze when Loki looked him dead in the eye, that piercing gaze striking him again. When the boy’s face split into a grin, however, Peter followed suit. “You’re not bad yourself, Lo. My, uh, my room is on the south wing if you ever wanna... wanna hang out.” He said nervously, as he went back to poking at his food. “And don’t worry, I’ll tell the nurses you’re an asshole. Don’t wanna ruin your reputation.”

Loki couldn't help but grin again. It seemed like he had finally found someone who he could share all his sarcasm and snarky remarks with. ”Yeah, I... I'd actually like that.” Loki admitted quietly, a blush creeping onto his otherwise pale cheeks

Peter noticed the blush on Loki’s cheeks, but decided to save him the embarrassment of pointing it out. Instead, he finished his porridge and set the bowl back down on the tray with the spoon. He got up from the chair. “I guess I’ll see you around.” He said, smiling softly, but he paused for a second. “And I do _not_  have _puppy eyes_!” He said loudly, pretending to be outraged enough that the nurses glanced over at them. He glared at Loki, but winked slyly to show he was joking, merely pretending to keep the boy’s volatile reputation afloat, before “storming” off and putting his tray away. He left the canteen to head back to his room, to wait for his session with Doctor Stark.

Steve and Bucky had watched the whole interaction from afar and weren't fooled by Peter's dramatic exit. The two nurses grinned at one another. ”They finally found one another.” Bucky pointed out and Steve nodded along as he watched Loki continue eating his food with the blush and smile still lingering on his face.


	20. 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another age regression session.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20 chapters, and 5000 hits! thank you so much to everyone who's reading, it means a lot! depression has been uh Kicking My Ass these last few days so its been hard to put these up, but i've done it anyway cos im a bad bitch. -richie

Peter went back to his room, where he sat on his windowsill and thought about what had happened during breakfast. Maybe Loki wasn’t a dick like he previously thought. He had a feeling he’d be seeing more of him, and that they’d stop each other from going insane in this place. Or maybe they’d drive each other insane. Who knows. He grabbed Spidey from where he left him on the windowsill and cradled him in his arms, gazing out at the courtyard.

An hour or so passed before Steve went to fetch Peter for his first session of the day. ”Peter, buddy, Doc's ready to see you now.” The nurse said as he knocked on the boy's door.

Peter glanced over at the door when Steve knocked, and instantly his mood brightened at the anticipation of seeing the doctor. He got off the windowsill, carrying Spidey in his arms and proceeded to follow Steve to the doctor’s office. He stifled a yawn, still somewhat tired from the lack of sleep last night, but knocked on the doctor’s door himself when they got there.

Steve took note on how Peter knocked on the doctor's door himself. Perhaps the boy wouldn't need to be brought to the sessions anymore and could walk ther himself more independently. ”I'll leave you to it then.” The nurse said and went to head back while Peter entered the office.

Peter nodded, waving after him and calling out “Bye, Stevie!” before heading into the office. “Doctor Stark?” He called out tentatively, seeing how the man was hunched over his computer.

”Come on in, Peter.” Tony said and gestured to the two chairs facing one another. The doctor had already heard of Peter's interactions with Loki and Strange, which he was very much curious to hear about, but he started out with the usual question. ”How are you doing?”

Peter headed into the office, taking the chair closest to the door and sitting on it with his legs crossed in a pretzel shape. He held Spidey on his lap, running his fingertips through the stuffies fur to soothe himself. “I’m, uh, I’m okay. Just a bit tired, but... ‘m alright.” He mumbled, a yawn interrupting his sentence by coincidence, but proving his point nonetheless. “How... are you?” He asked, suddenly realising he had never actually asked the Doctor that before.

 _Tired from being up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare about a loved one dying_ , Tony thought to himself. ”I'm good, thank you.” The doctor answered shortly, but swiftly turned the attention back to his patient. ”Why are you tired?”

Peter sniffed. He knew that Doctor Stark would ask that, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit it. “I, uh... I didn’t have a great nights sleep. Had a nightmare. It’s, uhm, it’s fine, though, I’m alright. ‘m fine.” He mumbled, trying to brush the event off as quickly as possible so they could move the conversation on.

Tony made a note in his mind about how Peter did not seem to be comfortable with talking about Uncle Ben unless he was in little space. At least yet. ”What have you been up to then since we talked yesterday?”

 “Uhm... me ‘n Steve went and sat in the courtyard for a bit...” Peter mumbled, trailing off when he remembered how he had confided in the Nurse about his feelings towards Doctor Stark. The memory made his face burn up, but he cleared his throat and continued. “And then at dinner yesterday there weren’t any empty tables so I had to sit with someone. Uhm, his name was Loki?”

Tony nodded along as he listened. ”And how was dinner with Loki?”

Peter paused. He promised Loki he’d try and maintain his reputation, so saying to Stark that he was actually alright when they got talking was probably off the table. “He’s, uh, kind of a prick.” He lied, chewing down on his lip and glancing elsewhere.

”How so?” Tony asked. He had a feeling that the boy was lying based on his stressed body language.

 “He just _is_. I... I try and engage in conversation with him and his responses are, like, one word long.” He said, continuing to stroke Spidey’s fur. “And he says I have puppy dog eyes.” He pouted.

”You didn’t it like when he said that?” Tony asked. Loki did have a point though.

Peter shrugged. “He made it sound like an insult. Maybe I do, I dunno.” He said, trailing off into deep thought. “He thought I was naive cos I haven’t been here as long as he has.”

Tony nodded again, resting his chin in his hand as he listened closely. He waited for the boy to continue.

 “And... and he thought I was dumb cos... cos I didn’t know my diagnosis.” He finished, his voice now a mumble. He glanced up at Doctor Stark to see him watching the boy carefully, and Peter squirmed where he sat. Kind of like Loki, Doctor Stark sometimes has a gaze that appeared as if he could see right through Peter.

”He thought you were dumb because you didn’t know your diagnosis?” Tony repeated to be sure of what the boy had said. ”What do you think he meant with that?”

 “Yeah, he... he asked for my diagnosis and I didn’t know what it was, so he just kinda laughed at me.” Peter muttered.

”How did that make you feel?” Tony asked, sat with his hands in his lap as he looked at his patient in front of him. Peter’s body language was awkward and he was quite clearly embarrassed by what Loki had pointed out to him. Still, the doctor preferred it when his patients explicitly asked about their diagnosis, so he wouldn’t let Peter off the hook just yet.

 “It was embarrassing. Like he was in on a joke that I didn’t know about.” Peter said, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. “What... what _is_  my diagnosis?” He asked, resting his chin on his knees and gazing at the Doctor.

If only daddy issues was a psychiatric term. ”You wish to know what my professional assessment of you is?” Tony asked, just to be sure that Peter really wanted to know.

Peter nodded fervently, his puppy dog eyes clear as day as he gazed at Doctor Stark. “Please?” He added, just to make sure that Stark would tell him.

Tony sat up straighter in his seat, his elbows on his knees and eyes still fixed on Peter. ”Based on my own observations, what you have told me and notes from your previous therapists, I think you have issues with attachment. Do you know what that means?” The doctor asked

 “I, uhm... I think so? Aren’t there... aren’t there different attachment types and stuff?” He asked, chewing on his lip. “What, uhm, what kind of issues?”

”Yes, there are different types, but to put it simply one is either securely attached or not securely attached.” Tony explained before he added. ”I think that you have trouble attaching to people in a healthy and stable manner that benefits you and the other person in the relationship. I also believe you have been unlucky in your relationships with people when you were young, due to external factors out of your control, which lead to your self-image did not developing into a confident one. Does any of that sound familiar or do you disagree?”

 “Uhm...” Peter had no idea what to think. He sat in silence with his chin on his knees, thinking it through. “I, uh, I guess that makes sense.” He mumbled, avoiding the doctor’s gaze by staring at the floor.

Tony let Peter think about what he had said. The boy was clearly thinking very hard. ”Tell me what you’re thinking about.” The doctor prompted, sitting back in his seat

Peter waited a couple of seconds before speaking. “It’s just... odd having it be put into words, you know? Like, it makes sense now that you explain it to me, but... I never could’ve explained it like that myself.” He paused, finally looking back at the Doctor. “It’s just a lot to process, I guess.”

”A lot of patients feel the same way, so that is quite normal, Peter.” Tony tried to comfort a little. After a moment of silence he added. ”A lot of patients also find it beneficial to know their diagnosis and what it entails. It gives them a sense of direction in their recovery.”

Peter nodded, but added no further comment. He brought his fingertips to his temples, rubbing at them as if he had a headache with his eyes squeezed shut. “Can we... do something else now, please? This is gonna make my head spin.” He joked, getting a bit of his humour back.

”Of course. What would you like to talk about? Or do?” Tony asked, making a hand gesture to Peter that it was up to him to decide

 “Uhm... can I...” Peter looked clearly nervous, dropping his legs back to the floor where one bounced with excess energy. “Can I have a hug?” He asked in a rush, trying his best to hide the blush that was very clearly taking over his face.

”Yes, you can.” Tony said with a smile and rose up from his seat, opening his arms and gesturing for the boy to come over.

Peter grinned, rising from his seat as well to give the man a hug. He barrelled towards him, causing the doctor to be pushed back down into the chair so that Peter could sit properly on his lap and keep his arms wrapped around him. He smiled into the crook of Doctor Stark's neck, perfectly comfortable where he was.

Tony chuckled and let out a little groan when he was pushed back into his seat. Rearranging himself a little, the doctor wrapped his arms around Peter and held him securely. ”Was that a bit too much at once?” He asked quietly, referring to the diagnosis and such that they had just talked about.

“Just a lil’ bit.” Peter murmured, his voice slightly muffled as his face was pressed into the shoulder of the doctor’s labcoat. He squirmed a bit to get comfortable on the man’s lap, his fingers feeling the texture of the white labcoat that Stark was wearing. “Am I crushing you?” He asked, giggling a little at how his whole weight seemed to be on Stark’s lap.

”No, you’re not.” Tony chuckled. And he was being honest, as the boy was still quite skinny, but gaining weight slowly but surely. ”Do you want to regress?” The doctor asked.

Peter nodded in response, shrinking into his hoodie and letting the sleeves form sweater paws around his hands. He slowly unwrapped his arms from around Stark’s neck but stayed sat on his lap, curled up with his head resting against the man’s shoulder. “Wolfie…” He mumbled absentmindedly, lifting his hand to drag his sweater paw across the doctor’s goatee.

Tony growled out a dark chuckle at that, grinning down at Peter. ”Yes, pretty boy?” He asked, licking his lips like a wolf would.

Peter’s heart skipped a terrified beat at just how quickly Doctor Stark was able to fall into character, and his eyes widened as his gaze followed the movement of the doctor’s tongue. “Wh- I- What did… What did you do to Doctor Stark?” He asked, falling into his scared character just as easily.

Tony laughed at that and bounced his leg so the boy also bounced on his lap. ”I ate the doctor. He was so tasty. I wonder if you are even tastier...” He growled playfully.

“Y-You _ate_  him?!” Peter said, leaning back to look at the doctor in shock. “N-No, you can’t have done! I _need_  him!” He said, beginning to squirm in his lap. “You don’t want to eat me too, I’m all gross, it won’t… it won’t taste good!” He insisted, realising that the man’s hold on him had gotten tighter to keep him in place.

”I did, in one big bite.” Tony grinned and smacked his lips as if he had just eaten a delicious meal. ”He was a little chewy, but you look all soft and mushy.” The doctor said, poking the boy in his abdomen while still holding him steady with one arm.

Peter whimpered, but his scared whimpers quickly turned into stifled giggles when Doctor Stark began poking him in the abdomen. “N-No! I’m not, I’m not!” He shook his head frantically, his curls bouncing on his head.  “I’m all stringy and lanky, you wouldn’t wanna eat me!” He tried to scramble backwards off the doctor’s lap to gain some distance between them. He wondered if he ran off, Doctor Stark would chase after him?

Tony didn’t let the boy off his lap just yet and held him steady. ”Well, if I have a bite of you, then I guess we will find out!” The doctor growled and showed his teeth, pulling the boy close before yanking him back to scare him a little.

Peter squeaked with fear when Doctor Stark bared his teeth at him, his eyes widening almost comically. He flinched, turning his head away to expose his neck, with his eyes squeezed shut. He squirmed more than ever, almost thrashing to get away from the Doctor. “Y-You’re evil! I won’t let you eat me, never ever!”

Tony finally let Peter get away and watched with a grin as he scrambled off. ”But I’m so hungry... Can’t I just have a little taste?”

Peter almost tripped over his own feet in his scramble to get up off the man’s lap. There he stood frozen, like a deer caught in headlights as he watched the doctor, and the doctor watched him back. Every so often his eyes glanced over at the door, like he was getting ready to bolt. “Y-You already ate Doctor Stark! You can’t eat me _too_!”

”You can’t run away, pretty boy.” Tony chuckled, rising from his seat and walking over to Peter slowly. ”And you don’t have anything to defend yourself with... You’re at my mercy, little one.” He chuckled darkly, licking his lips again.

Peter’s plan to head for the door was foiled by Doctor Stark getting up and stalking towards him. He shuffled backwards, suddenly aware of the height difference between them, and had no idea what to do. What was he gonna do, the wolf was gonna get him! He glanced around, spotting a throw pillow on the couch and grabbing it to hold it at arms length. “I-I am not! I’ll use this!”

Tony took a step back, pretending to be frightened. ”What’s that? Is it a secret weapon?” The doctor asked with wide eyes and lifted his arms to shield himself.

“I-It… It’s a shield! A shield so… so you can’t get to me!” Peter cried, holding it out further to separate the two from each other. “And if you try to get me… I can…” His sentence trailed off in favour of hitting the doctor lightly in the side with it, giggling all the while.

”Hey!” Tony yelped a little, pushing the pillow away from himself as he jumped back. ”Oh, you’re in for it now, little one!” He growled and came at the boy.

Peter squealed with laughter as Doctor Stark stalked towards him again, and Peter immediately shuffled backwards to counter each step that the man took forward. Eventually the back of his calves hit the couch and he fell backwards, landing on the sofa with a soft grunt with the pillow still held at arms length. There were still a number of cushions around him, so he grabbed another to hold that in front of him too.

”You can’t hide from me, little one...” Tony said in a singing voice and placed his hands on the pillows to try and make Peter let go of them.

Peter whimpered, fear creeping back into his veins as he caught sight of how Doctor Stark’s eyes darkened with pretend evil, and how his lips curled into a maddening smirk. The intimidation worked, and Peter dropped the pillows to see Stark towering over him.

”Hello, there.” Tony chuckled, licking his lips again. ”Aren’t you a cute, little thing, huh? You look so yummy and tasty...” He purred with a smirk, placing one hand on the back of the sofa to tower over Peter.

“I-I’m not cute. A-And I’m not _yummy_  either!” Peter insisted, but found himself shrinking downwards when he saw Doctor Stark’s arm reaching to the back of the couch. His eyes were wide and innocent, but he couldn’t deny the feeling in his stomach at how Stark’s baritone purring got to him.

”You aren’t cute, you say?” Tony said with a frown. ”Then why do you squeal so adorably when I tickle you?” He asked and with both hands, he began tickling the boy’s ribs.

“No, no no no! N-Ah!” Peter begged, trying his best to turn his body so that Doctor Stark couldn’t get to his ribs. “I-I-I’d rather you eat me than _this_! No!” He cried, his laughter making him hiccup profusely and his face go red.

”What was that? Can’t hear you.” Tony laughed as he continued tickling Peter as he tried to squirm and get away.

“I… Wait, st-stop! I… If you stop tickling me, I’ll… I’ll let you eat me!” He said hurriedly, his face blushing violently. “L-Leave my ribs alone!” He giggled.

”Okay, okay.” Tony said and finally ended his torture on the boy. ”You know what, though?” The doctor said and sat down next to Peter on the sofa.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed for a split second when Doctor Stark finished his attack on Peter’s ribs and moved to sit next to him. Hesitantly, the boy placed a pillow between them, standing on its’ side just in case the man tried anything. “What?” He asked, slowly getting his breath back after having such a violent giggling fit.

”I’m so full from eating Doctor Stark that I don’t think I can eat you too.” Tony said and laid his head back on the sofa, sticking his tongue out as if he was dead.

Peter snorted, watching how Doctor Stark tipped his head back with his tongue lolling out. “So you’re a nice wolfie now?” He asked, carefully moving the pillow to one side and shuffling over until he was back in the doctor’s lap.

Tony pretended to be dead a little longer before he raised his head. ”Yes, I’m in fact vegetarian now, so I can’t eat pretty little boys anymore.” He said, bouncing Peter on his lap.

“You can’t eat someone big and then claim you’re a vegetarian, Mr. Wolf.” Peter said in a scolding tone, but the grin on his face showed he was joking. “And I’m not pretty anyway, so it’s not really a loss.” He mumbled, resting his forehead on the doctor’s chest.

”Yes, you are, Peter. You are a pretty and clever boy.” Tony said seriously, cupping Peter’s cheeks in his hands and squishing his face. ”So pretty and so clever.” He emphasised.

Peter didn’t seem convinced, but the squishing of his face made him smile regardless. “’m not, wolfie. You just keep telling yourself that.” He mumbled around the hands cupping his face. He brought his own hands up to splay them across Stark’s face, covering his eyes and dragging them down his cheeks. “’m not as pretty as you.” He muttered quietly to himself, but froze, every bone in his body _praying_  that Doctor Stark didn’t hear him.

”Are you calling me a liar?” Tony growled a little, still squishing the boy’s face and shook his head in his hands before letting go. He heard what the boy had muttered and based on his body tensing up, he regretted uttering it, so Tony let it be.

The growl made Peter’s heart race a little, but he laughed when Doctor Stark shook his head about in his hands, making his brown curls fly around his face. When he let go, so did Peter, dropping his hands to fiddle with Stark’s labcoat buttons and his gaze following his hands. “Maybe I am. What’re _you_  gonna do about it?” He muttered insolently, pouting as he twiddled the buttons between his fingertips.

”What I’m gonna do about it?” With a grin, Tony spread his knees suddenly, making Peter fall down in his lap before tugging him back up. ”That!”

Peter yelped as he fell and rose within seconds, his hands tightening onto Stark’s labcoat for stability. “F-Fuck!” Peter gasped in surprise, giggling at how it had felt like his heart had been taken on some kind of rollercoaster ride. “D-Don’t do that again!”

”Then you have to admit that you’re a pretty and clever boy.” Tony bargained and with a cheeky smile, he spread his legs a tiny bit again.

“I… I can’t!” Peter whimpered. He could feel the man’s legs shifting again, threatening to drop him once more, and he knew he had to act fast. Before he knew what he was doing, he had leaned in to press a kiss to the tip of the doctor’s nose. He leant back to gauge his reaction, nervous that the man would yell at him.

Tony was rarely ever stunned by his patients, but somehow the boy on his lap had managed to do so twice now.

The doctor was at a loss for words for a while and suddenly the beauty of Peter seemed to hit him like a train.

Blinking one, then twice, Tony gathered his professionalism and spread his knees once more to give Peter a little scare. ”Admit it, Peter.” He teased, hoping the sudden acting distracted him from his reaction to the kiss on his nose.

Peter watched him blink, and for a second he thought he had gone too far, scared him, but then the doctor’s face changed back to his usual smirk and Peter had to grip onto his labcoat again to stop himself from slipping. “Never!” He crowed, a bright grin spreading across his face. “You’ll never get me to admit it, cos it’s not true!” he said, his smiling face a real contrast from what he was saying. He grabbed a pillow and tried to bat Doctor Stark over the head with it playfully.

”All right, all right.” Tony laughed, pushing the pillow away from his face. ”I’ll make you admit it, one way or another.” The doctor said and narrowed his eyes at the boy. He glanced up at the clock and saw that their time was running out once more.

Peter stuck his tongue out in response, but when he saw Stark looking into the middle distance, he followed his gaze to the clock. “Oh…” He said, deflating on the man’s lap as he realised that the session was almost over. He leaned forward to wrap his arms around Doctor Stark’s neck in a hug, burying his face back into his labcoat once more.

”We still have ten minutes.” Tony assured, but rubbed the boy’s back nonethless. ”But, we’ll see one another again before dinner time, remember? You asked to see me twice a day.” The doctor reminded.

“Oh, yeah!” Peter remembered, visibly perking up at that. His blush was starting to return again, creeping up his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He tried his best to hide it in the man’s lab coat, but seemingly failed. “’m sorry for… for kissing your nose. That was… that was dumb.” He said, actively making sure to muffle his voice.

A part of Tony wanted to admit that he enjoyed the kiss a lot, so much that he’d like more, but professionalism got the better of him. ”It’s all right, Peter. Many patients do some silly things when they regress.”

Oh. So… So it didn’t mean anything to the doctor. Peter felt his heart sink at that realisation, more so than he expected, and it took a lot for him to not start crying there and then. He could feel himself closing up as he sat on Doctor Stark’s lap, and so he chose to slide off of his lap to sit on the couch.

”It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Peter.” Tony assured, seeing that Peter was beginning to close up again.

“It’s not that.” The boy replied quietly, looking away from the man entirely. He decided to lie down on the couch, kicking his legs up to curl them towards himself. He placed his head on the other end of the sofa, away from Doctor Stark, and stared forward, deep in thought.

“What is it then?” Tony asked as he looked at the boy.

“It’s… It’s nothing!” Peter huffed, kicking his legs off the couch and moving to stand up. “You… you wouldn’t get it, okay? You wouldn’t get it!” Even though he was still somewhat regressed, he made the decision to leave the office entirely, slamming the door behind him.


	21. 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki hatch a plan.

Peter knew he had left 10 minutes early, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Not when he was this upset. He took to roaming the halls for a while, turning corners whenever he saw a member of staff.

Tony was a little taken aback by Peter’s sudden outburst and watched as he left his office in a hurry. Setbacks were very common in a recovery process, so Tony was not too worried, but still he pondered on what could have triggered Peter to leave so suddenly. Looking over at the chair where the boy had been sitting, the doctor noticed Spidey and how abandoned and sad he looked by himself.

After a while of walking around, Peter realised with a jolt that he had forgotten Spidey back in Doctor Stark’s office. He groaned, immediately feeling guilty about leaving his precious stuffie behind, but what was he to do? He couldn’t go back and get him, that would be too embarrassing. He’d just have to… sneak into the office and steal him back when Stark wasn’t there. That gave him an idea, and immediately he headed off to find Loki.

\---

Loki was sat in his room with a book when he heard a knock on the door. ”Just fuck off already, Rogers, I’m- Oh, it’s you, puppy eyes.” Loki said as he looked up from his book and blushed a little. ”You can fuck off too.” He said and lifted his book to hide his blushing face.

“And hello to you too, greaseball.” Peter said with a grin, checking both sides of the corridor before he came into the room and closed the door behind him. “Listen, I, uhm… I need your help to… to cause trouble.” He mumbled, his back pressed against the door to make sure the nurses didn’t come by and interrupt them.

Loki lowered his book to his lap at the mention of trouble and grinned a little. ”Trouble, huh? Well, you came to the right guy. What’s the situation?”

Peter paused for a moment, making sure there was nobody pushing on the door before he took another step inside the room. He immediately headed for the chair and sat astride it, not caring to ask whether he could. “I… I just had an age regression therapy session with Stark, and… it’s complicated, but I stormed out. But when I stormed out, I left my stuffed animal behind, and I need to get him back. Could you help me?” He asked, resting his arms on the back of the chair and gazing at Loki with his chin on his arms.

Loki shut his book and placed it on his bedside table, sitting up in his bed to face Peter better. ”I need something in return. I don’t work for free, puppy eyes.”

 “You’ve _gotta_  start thinking of better insults.” Peter rolled his eyes, but remained deep in thought for a minute. “Is there anything from Stark’s office you want, but can’t usually have?” He asked, then paused for a moment. “Also, I’ve seen you eat that chocolate pudding from the canteen. I could... give you my portion of it.”

Loki thought about the offer for a minute before he stood up. ”All right, underoos. I’ll team up with you this one time. And I’ll get your pudding for as long as you’re here.”

 “ _As long as I’m he-_  That’s nearly three weeks!” He cried, also standing up indignantly. He thought it over, but ultimately nodded his head resolutely. “I just need to get into Stark’s office and get Spidey back. Did you say there’s anything you want from there?”

Loki didn’t answer that, but began pacing the room as he started plotting in his head. ”We need a keycard to get to Stark’s office.” He thought aloud

 “Wow, I can _see_  the cogs going in your brain, greaseball.” Peter chirped, tilting his head to one side as he watched Loki pace the room. “We won’t be able to get one from Stark himself, but... I’ve seen the nurses access his room with _their_  cards, maybe if we try stealing one of theirs?” He pondered, his chin now resting on the back of the chair.

”It has to be either Rogers or Barnes.” Loki muttered and paced back and forth. ”The keycard’s in their pockets and it’s attached with a clip.” The boy stopped for a moment before it clicked in his head and he turned to look at Peter. ”You have to tackle one of them and get the card.”

Peter raised his eyebrows at that. “You want me to _t_ _ackle_  one of those guys? Have you seen how big they are, I’ll barely make a dent!” He said, watching Loki closely. “But fine, sure, I’ll do it. I just came out of regression therapy so... I can act like a kid and they’d be none the wiser.” He muttered to himself.

”Exactly. Just put on those puppy eyes and giggle like you’re high and get the card.” Loki said, shaking his hands in the air to seem crazy. ”Come on, underoos, we gotta find one of the fuckers.” The boy said and didn’t wait for Peter to follow him out the door

"You're really all sunshine and rainbows, aren't you?" Peter rolled his eyes, but nearly tripped over himself to follow the boy out of his room. He stayed a little ways behind him, to make it seem like they weren't together, and it wasn't long before they spotted Rogers at the end of the corridor.

Right, here we go.

Peter took a deep breath and ran forward, squealing "Stevie!" as warning before he leapt up into his arms and clung to him like a koala around his waist. His hands stretched around his back, with one slipping into the nurse's pocket to get the card.

Loki tried his hardest to keep a straight face, but it turned out to be hard when Steve pulled such a baffled expression at Peter literally jumping into his arms. ”Hey, there! Are we feeling little or what?” The nurse asked and got a better grip on the boy in his arms, already plotting in his head on which staff member should keep an eye on Peter while he was regressed.

It took a bit of squirming on Peter’s part, but soon he had dislodged the card from the bottom of Steve’s pocket and brought it out carefully with one hand. Once he had secured it in his palm, he hopped off the man and brought his hands to his hoodie pocket, looking adequately shy. “Me ‘n Loki were… were lookin’ at the birds.” He mumbled, using his “puppy-eyes” to seal the deal.

Steve was a little suspicious of Peter’s very sudden friendship with Loki. They had only been talking a couple of times, as far as he knew, and he was a little confused by the fact that Peter felt comfortable enough to regress around the other boy.

Before he could say something, Loki stepped in. ”I’ll keep an eye on him, Rogers. I know how you don’t like people to regress by themselves. We’ll have so much fun. Right, Petey?” Loki said with a smile and tapped Peter on the nose.

Peter giggled obligingly at Loki’s tap to his nose, trying to bat the boy’s hand away with his own. “Come on, Lo, I wanna see the birds!” He chirped, dragging Loki by the wrist away from the nurse and in the direction of the doctor’s office, which was a few corridors away. Once they got there, safely out of sight from the staff, Peter turned to Loki. “I’ll go in ‘n get Spidey. Do you want anything from in there while I’m gone?”

”I’m coming with, dumbass!” Loki whispered back harshly. ”Remember, you’re a newbie and I’m the master. Give me the card.” The boy said and held his hand out to take the keycard

 “But we need someone for loo-“ Peter was about to point out the need for a lookout, but the thunderous look on Loki’s face had him swallowing his words and handing the card over without resistance. “You’re the “master”? Really? Can’t see you being a master of anything.”

”As if you would get in here by yourself, dumbass.” Loki grumbled as he speed walked to Stark’s office door and opened it with the card. He double checked that the office was empty before heading in.

Peter rolled his eyes again. “You know, I don’t know why you sit by yourself most days. You’re so nice to people, you should be swimming in friend requests!” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. When Loki disappeared into Stark’s office, Peter checked both ways down the corridor and followed suit. Instantly he saw Spidey sat on the seat he had left him on, and his pounding heart settled for a brief moment. “Fuck, Spidey, I’m sorry for leaving you behind!” He mumbled, picking the stuffie up and cradling him closely.

Loki rolled his eyes at Peter’s comments and again when he spoke to his stuffie. The boy headed straight to the desk, but to his disappointment it was clear of any papers and the computer demanded a password. ”Bitch keeps everything locked and secure...” Loki muttered aloud and turned to the safe

 “Don’t call him a bitch.” Peter said sharply, but immediately froze. He had to be on Loki’s side here, for this, and any truly antagonising comments could easily put him in deep shit. Also, defending the doctor so quickly might make Loki suspicious. “He’s just not an idiot. What kind of doctor keeps important files open on their desk?” He said quickly, his fingers still stroking Spidey’s fur.

Loki didn’t answer, but did glare at Peter over his shoulder briefly before turning back to the doctor’s belongings on the shelf. He ran his fingers over the maps of files. ”Research papers, research papers, journals... But where are the patient files?” Loki grumbled.

Peter watched Loki search for whatever he was looking for, tapping his foot impatiently. “Hurry up, greaseball, he could be ba-“ The sounds of the door clicking open made Peter’s stomach drop and his head whip towards the door, to see Stark coming in with a tupperware box of lunch.

Oh _shit_.

It wasn’t the first time Tony had caught Loki snooping in his office, so he wasn’t too surprised, but he was disappointed to see Peter with him. ”So, do you boys want to explain yourselves?” Tony said and closed the door behind himself and went over to his desk. Loki scrambled away and went to stand by Peter in front of the desk.

Peter’s eyes widened when Doctor Stark shut the door behind himself, meaning they couldn’t leave, and his legs trembled violently. He looked over at Loki, who seemed apparently nonchalant about the whole thing, and that only made him feel worse. His breathing got quicker and quicker, and hot tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes. Spidey remained tightly clutched in his hands, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to find the words to explain what happened.

Tony went to sit on his desk and set his food down before retrieving his pager and sent a message to Doctor Banner. He didn’t give the two patients his attention just yet and let them think about what they had done.

Seeing that Peter was tearing up, Loki glared at him and elbowed him. ”Pull yourself together, you fucking crybaby!” Loki whispered harshly.

”Loki...” Tony warned, seeing that Peter was regressing and didn’t need the harsh words from Loki.

Peter sniffled to hold himself together, but the harsh whispers from Loki made him glare back, and he raised his foot to stamp it on Loki’s toes. He then turned away from the taller boy, cuddling Spidey closer to his chest and staring at the floor in front of him. He could literally _feel_  himself slipping, and try as he might, he couldn’t keep it together.

Tony didn’t say anything else till Doctor Banner arrived a moment later. ”Loki, why don’t you go along with Doctor Banner?” Tony said, leaving the boy little choice but to go with his suggestion. Muttering curses under his breath, Loki went to leave the office with the doctor. ”Peter, sit down.” Tony instructed once they were alone and gestured to one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Peter watched Loki leave with a guilty knot in his stomach. It wasn’t Loki’s fault that they got into this mess, and now he was getting yelled at for it. Peter had no choice but to sit down, his entire body shaking with fear as he felt Doctor Stark’s gaze on him. Now that it was just the two of them, the tears Peter had been holding back began to fall hard and fast, staining his cheeks and making him gasp for breath. “I-I-It wasn’t L-Loki’s fault, it w-was my idea.” He said, before his voice failed him and he continued to cry.

Tony let the boy cry it out for a while before he spoke. ”Tell me what happened, from the beginning.” He suspected that Loki had got Peter to go along with his mischief, but he couldn’t disipline Peter until he heard it from the boy himself.

 “I... When I left y-your session, I forgot Sp-Spidey, and I didn’t want to... didn’t want to go back ‘n get him while you were still here cos that... that would be embarrassing. So I, uhm, I wanted to get him back when you weren’t in here s-so I went to Loki for h-help and he said we should get a k-keycard to open your door. S-So I stole one fr-from Stevie. L-Loki still has it on him.” He mumbled, not looking the man in the eye as he spoke.

Tony had a slightly hard time keeping up with the boy’s rambling explanation, but he got the bigger picture and nodded. ”Tell me which rules you have broken today.”

 “I... I stole something from one of the staff. And I went somewhere out of bounds without permission.” He mumbled, grasping Spidey even tighter than before. He was dreading the idea of a punishment, and he had no idea what even constituted as a punishment in this place.

”And you were aware of these rules and still went through it?” Tony reasoned, his eyebrow raised slightly. ”Correct?”

Peter gulped, before nodding his head. “Yes, sir.” He said quietly, ducking his head and staring at the floor. He’d never called Stark “sir” before, it had just slipped out. He continued to sniffle a little while longer, teardrops still clinging to his eyelashes and making their way lazily down his face.

”Is there anything else you’d like to say before I discipline you?” Tony asked, giving the boy the chance to apologise to protentially get a less severe punishment.

Peter whimpered at the sound of discipline. He shivered, imagining being put in a strait-jacket and put in a padded room to rot. “I-I’m sorry. For... for storming out on you, and then trying to break into your office.” He said, a bit louder than he had previously been speaking so that Doctor Stark could hear him.

”Apology accepted, Peter.” Tony said with a little smile. ”But there will still be consequences. Considering this is your first time breaking a rule on purpose, I will not discipline you severely.” The doctor said and paused a little so that the boy could think about what he had said before adding. ”You will not be granted phone privileges tomorrow. That is the consequence of your actions today, understood?”

Peter opened his mouth in outrage to protest, but the look from the doctor had him snapping his mouth shut. He nodded to show he understood, bringing his knees up to his chest again and holding Spidey close, a sure sign of his regression. He couldn’t talk to May tomorrow. That made him upset, but he was just going to have to deal with it.

Tony could clearly see Peter did not like the punishment that he had given him, but he did not back down. ”Would you like Rogers or Barnes to come fetch you and stay with you until you age up again?” The doctor asked, getting his pager out to alert either of the nurses. Tony wanted to stay with the boy himself, but he had important paperwork to do as he hadn’t counted on Peter needing his attention.

Peter nodded slowly. “I... Yes, please. Can... Can it be Bucky? I...” Peter didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness of facing Steve after that whole ordeal. Besides, it had been a while since he had seen Bucky anyways. He sat patiently as Doctor Stark called for one of the nurses, and buried his face in Spidey’s fur to try and calm down.

They sat in silence as they waited for Bucky to arrive and he did so after a few minutes. ”Keep an eye on him, will you?” Tony said and gestured to the boy sat in front of his desk. ”And I’ll see you again before dinner time, Peter.” The doctor reminded before Bucky brought the boy along with him and out of the office.

Peter couldn’t resist rolling his eyes at that. He wasn’t a master criminal, he just wanted to get his stuffie back! He followed Bucky out nonetheless, trailing behind him a little bit with a glum look on his face. After a few moments of silence he spoke. “Is Stevie mad at me?” He asked tentatively.

”He is a bit, yeah, but he’s never mad for long.” Bucky said and patted the boy on his shoulder to try and get him to chin up. ”You admitted your mistake, apologised and suffered the consequences, so you are practically forgiven.”

Peter sighed. “I don’t like making people mad…” He mumbled, his eyes downcast to the floor. “I was just tryin’ to get Spidey back…” He turned his head to look out of the corridor windows, gazing out at the courtyard where he could see a robin perched on a branch nearby. He didn’t mention it, simply continued to shuffle along in Bucky’s wake.

”Yeah, I understand that, buddy. But you could have got him back without breaking any rules. Next time, just come to one of us and we'll sort it out together, all right?” The nurse suggested with a smile, but couldn't catch Peter's eyes. ”I think some fresh air could do us some good.” Bucky said and lead the way to one of the exits to the courtyard.

The boy nodded solemnly, his mood completely flattened by the afternoon’s events. He followed the nurse out to the courtyard, looking around to see the benches that were empty. He saw that his and Stark’s bench was empty, but decided against sitting there, choosing a bench on the other end of the courtyard. He sat with his legs crossed in a pretzel-shape, looking up at the sky with Spidey in his lap.

Bucky went to sit down next to the boy and sighed in content. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, but Peter was like a dark cloud next to him. ”Why didn’t you go find Stark when you realised you had forgot your buddy?” The nurse asked, trying to make some conversation.

Peter grumbled, glancing over at the nurse for a second before looking back up at the sky. “I don’t wanna talk about it. I… It’s embarrassing.” He said, cracking his knuckles with his thumbs as he stared up at the sky, watching the pigeons soar past.

”That’s all right, buddy. We can just sit here and enjoy the sunshine.” Bucky assured. ”But talk about it with Stark when you see him later.” The nurse urged before he fell silent.

“I don’t want to.” Peter said resolutely, his head dropping to look down at his lap. “He… He wouldn’t understand. Nobody does.” He was starting to age up, and even just thinking about what had happened that day, confessing that Doctor Stark was pretty _to his face_ , kissing the man’s nose… It made him feel mildly sick.

”That’s what they all say, but listen kid. Our job is to listen and understand. There is nothing you can say that will upset us or make us think that you’re weird or anything like that.” Bucky said, turning to look at Peter by his side. It really was true, they were all highly trained to remain professional and calm at all times, no matter what their patients said or did.

Peter glanced over at the nurse again, trying to examine his face to see if he was lying. After a few moments of silence, he sighed again, his shoulders slumping. “I guess.” He went back to fiddling with Spidey’s fur, avoiding the nurse’s gaze. “I’ve already made the mistake of telling one person. I’m not telling more people.” He said, his face darkening.

”Well, it’s good that you’ve told someone.” Bucky said with a smile. ”It isn’t healthy to keep your emotions and thoughts all in your head. Talking about it helps, which seems easy enough, but it’s actually very hard. So, you’re doing good, buddy.” The nurse pointed out, shoving the boy a little on his shoulder to get a smile out of him.

“I dunno if talking about it helped.” He muttered. “If anything, it just made me feel worse, in… in a weird way.” Peter flinched when the nurse shoved him, but saw that he was joking and so offered a soft smile in response. He jabbed his fingers under Barnes’ ribs to get him back, his grin slowly coming back.

”Ah, there he is!” Bucky chuckled when the boy got back at him. ”Well, you gotta work through the hard stuff, that’s how it gets better.” The nurse argued.

“Stop laughing at me!” Peter tried to sound annoyed, but soon he was also grinning back at the nurse. “I wish it was easier than that. It’d save a hell of a lot of time.” He shrugged, looking back towards the sky. “Oh hey, Bucky, look. Robin.” He pointed to the tree branch that he saw the bright little bird perched on.

They sat in silence for a little while, watching the birds until the sky turned a gentle pink, and Peter had to head back in for dinner.


	22. 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki reconcile after their little stunt.

Seeing that Peter was heading to his table, Loki grumbled to himself and shifted in his seat nervously. ”Just fuck off, Peter.” But he didn’t say it with much force.

Peter winced at the comment, but sat down regardless. “Lo, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into that. Did Banner… what happened to you? Like, did he discipline you as well?” He asked, keeping his head down and his voice quiet.

”I- I don’t want to talk about it...” Loki mumbled, his voice softer than usual. ”What did Stark do to you?” The boy asked, trying to get the attention away from himself.

“He just… He made me say what I did wrong, what rules I broke.” Peter said, picking his sandwich up and peering at it closely. “And then he took away my phone privileges for tomorrow, cos it’s my first time breaking the rules. So I won’t get to speak to my aunt.” He said. He tried not to think about May, about what he had done. “Are you sure you don’t wanna talk about it, Loki?”

”Yes, just let it be...” Loki mumbled and fell silent for a while until he sighed. ”I got spanked by Banner...” He admitted quietly and brought a hand up to his mouth, feeling like he hadn’t entirely aged up yet.

“He… He _spanked_  you?” Peter whispered, leaning in to make sure nobody could overhear them. “Is he _allowed_  to do that? Is that part of your… your therapy?” He asked further, his eyebrows furrowing as he gazed at the taller boy. He could tell that Loki wasn’t being himself, so he shuffled a little closer towards him so he could rest his hand on the boy’s shoulder comfortingly.

Loki didn’t bat Peter’s hand off him, but he would never admit aloud that he actually liked the gesture. ”Yeah, yeah, it’s... It’s something we have agreed on and have a safeword for too and-” Loki cut off and took a deep breath. ”I- I just don’t like disappointing Daddy...”

Peter had never seen someone else regress before, and it was interesting to see just how vulnerable Loki became when he was in that state. He squeezed the boy’s shoulder to ground him. “You’re alright, buddy, you’re okay. He’s not gonna be disappointed in you. It’s over now, right?” He said, trying to meet the boy’s eyes. “Do you… Do you wanna come to my room after lunch? I haven’t introduced you to Spidey properly.” He offered gently, a soft smile on his face.

Loki nodded a little. ”Yeah, he... He said I’m forgiven.” The boy said and looked up at Peter briefly before lowering his gaze again. ”And yeah, I’d like that...”

Peter grinned, the feeling of success flooding his veins. “Then that’s good! He’s forgiven you, so you can move on now, right?” Peter didn’t think that _h_ _e_  would be the one comforting someone, but it’s what Loki needed right now, so he was happy to do it. “Should we go now, then? I dunno if I can stomach this sandwich.”

Loki nodded a little again, keeping his hand by his mouth and eyes downcast still.

Steve saw from across the room how Peter and Loki went to leave early and went over to investigate.

Peter stood up from his seat, Loki following, and together they headed towards the exit of the canteen. Peter was looking back, checking that Loki was still behind him, when he walked straight into the wall of muscle that was Steve’s chest. He bounced back a bit. “Oh, hey Steve. Me ‘n… Loki are gonna go to my room. We’re not hungry.”

Steve narrowed his eyes just a little at Peter, but then he looked at Loki and immediately noticed his softer and more vulnerable facial expression and body language. He also trusted the two doctors to have disciplined them enough so that they would not attempt mischief again, yet at least. "Sure, you two go ahead." The nurse said and stepped back to let the two boys pass.

Peter nodded, gesturing for Loki to follow him. Once they were out in the corridor, he dared to put an arm around Loki protectively, knowing that when _he_  was regressed, he needed all the contact comfort he could get. Together they walked back to Peter’s room, with Peter pushing the door open and letting Loki inside first. “Spidey’s on the bed. He’s always up to making more friends.” He murmured, following the taller boy into his room.

Loki leaned into Peter as they walked and stood a little unsurely in his room, looking around until he fixed his eyes on the stuffie on the bed. ”I don’t have my own stuffie here. I like the owl in the playroom, though. She’s soft.”

“I’ve never played with her, but I know which one you’re talking about.” Peter nodded, moving to sit on his bed. He patted the space on the mattress next to him, as an invitation for Loki to sit down. “Do you, uhm, wanna talk about what happened with Banner? It’s… It’s okay if you don’t, I’m just curious about how it works.” He said softly.

After considering the offer, Loki moved to sit next to Peter and lifted his knees up to his chest. “I got ten and I had to count them.“ Loki muttered simply.

“Huh…” Peter hummed thoughtfully, before shuffling across the bed and putting his arm around Loki once more, rubbing his arm soothingly. It got him thinking, though. Would Doctor Stark ever do that for him? He… He kind of liked the sound of it, but what if Stark laughed at him for bringing it up? Peter chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. “Did it hurt?” He asked, before leaning back and getting Spidey to hand him over to Loki.

Loki studied Spidey in his hands for a while and let his head rest on Peter’s shoulder. ”Kinda... But we have a deal and I can make him stop if I want, but I kinda don’t want that, you know?” Loki explained and held up Spidey. ”He’s a tarantula.”

Peter patted Loki on the head a couple of times after he spoke. “Yeah, he is! They’re the fluffy ones. I’ve held one before, ‘n it was really cute.” He found himself becoming a little more childlike with Loki in this state, not full regression but a little more vulnerable. He gazed at Loki as the other boy looked down at the stuffie, and his eyes were drawn to Loki’s hair. “I like your hair. Have you… have you ever braided it?” He asked curiously.

”No, I haven’t.” Loki admitted quietly with a shake of his head. ”Would- would you like to try?” He asked cautiously, flickering his eyes up to meet Peter’s as a blush creeped onto his cheeks.

“I’ve never braided hair before, but… first time for everything, right?” Peter grinned, lifting his hand slowly to touch the other boy’s hair. “If the nurses come in here, we’re toast.” He joked, starting to laugh. “We’re supposed to hate each other. Or pretend to, anyway.”

”Right.” Loki chuckled and turned his body around a little so that his back was to Peter and he had better access to his hair. ”Uhm... what do you do with Stark? Like for the age regression stuff?” Loki asked, closing his eyes at how nice it felt to have someone play with his hair.

“Hold on, lemme…” Peter also shuffled so that his back was against the wall that was by his bed, and Loki was sat between his legs facing away from him. He began to gather bits of Loki’s hair, gently separating them out into three separate strands. “We… We do a bunch of stuff. We play with Legos a lot, and… and that game with the blocks and the cards? Where you have to match up the patterns?” He stuck his tongue out with concentration as he tried his best to remember how to braid. “We play pretend games too.”

”Yeah, Banner also lets me play with the blocks.” Loki said with a little smile. He liked how the doctor always praised him after getting the pattern right. ”What kind of games?” The boy asked, fiddling with one of Spidey’s limbs in his hand.

Peter paused for a moment. “It’s kinda… It’s embarrassing to say out loud, but… he pretends to be this big bad wolf, ‘n… he says he eats pretty boys so he always tries to “eat” me, but… I don’t think I’m pretty. Last time, he was trying to scare me into admitting I’m pretty but I, uhm, I accidentally said that I thought I wasn’t as pretty as him.” He mumbled.

Loki turned to look at Peter from the corner of his eye, a grin on his face. ”You have a crush on him?” The boy gasped out. ”You do! Oh, my God!” The boy squealed and laughed.

“LOKI!” Peter groaned, dropping the hair he was in the middle of braiding. “You can’t tell _anyone_ , okay?! You have to promise me you won’t tell anyone, especially not the staff!” He cried, shoving the boy playfully. “Oh _God_ , I’m never gonna live this down…” He moaned, dramatically falling to one side on the mattress and hiding his face with his hands.

Loki turned around fully now, his hair half-braided and out of his face. ”What’s he like? Come on, tell me! I’ll keep your secret!” The boy giggled, throwing the stuffie at Peter to get him to tell more.

“Hey!” Peter squealed, throwing Spidey back at the other boy. “He’s… he’s nice. He’s real pretty. And… and he’s smart, like _super_  smart, you know? And that little smirk he does, it… ugh!” Peter groaned, grabbing his pillow and covering his face with it. “God, it’s so embarrassing. He’s just so… so…”

”So...?” Loki teased with a grin, climbing up to Peter on the bed and towering over him.

Peter moved the pillow off of his face to see Loki leaning over him entirely, shadowing over where Peter laid on the mattress. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Lo.” He rolled his eyes and pushed his hand up to push at the boy’s face, giggling wildly. “It’s wrong but… I just like him a lot. And if you tell anyone, I’ll tell them that you let me braid your hair!”

”All right, all right...” Loki laughed, turning his head and sitting back to get away from Peter. ”I won’t tell anyone. How often do you see him? I see Banner once a day.” Loki asked, bouncing on the bed with excitement.

“Twice a day. It used to be once, but… I asked for it to be more cos I like seeing him.” Peter admitted, not moving from where he laid on the bed. “What’s Banner like?” He asked, desperate for the topic to change from his embarrassing crush on Stark.

”He’s pretty good. And he doesn’t panic when I tell him like- like heavy stuff.” The boy explained, sitting back on the bed so that his back was against the wall. ”Like most people do.”

Peter hummed, turning on the bed so that he was lying with his head next to Loki’s legs. He didn’t put his head in the boy’s lap, not yet, but they stayed close together and Peter felt comfortable regardless. “That’s good. What do you do with him in the regression stuff?”

”We play with the blocks and I get to colour and drawing if I want. And...” Loki trailed off a little, fiddling with his hands. ”And he plays with my hair sometimes when I get upset. I like that.” He admitted quietly.

“Huh… That’s why you were fine with me braiding it, I’m guessing?” Peter said, smiling up at the boy when he saw that he was getting shy. Slowly, he shuffled up the bed a little more until his head was resting against Loki’s thigh. “Your hair’s nice, you know. Super soft. Good braiding material.” Peter said lightly, grinning up at the other boy.

”Thanks.” Loki mumbled and looked down at Peter on his thigh shyly, smiling a little. He wasn’t going to admit it yet, but the raven-haired boy was happy to have someone close to him, someone who more or less was going through the same thing as he was. ”You’re all right, Peter.” The boy admitted.

Peter shrugged, closing his eyes. “You too. I don’t let Spidey meet just _anybody_ , you know.” Even with his eyes closed, his face broke into a cheeky grin that spread from ear to ear. After a second, his smile faded for a second. “Can I… tell you something? And you gotta promise you won’t, like… tell anyone.”

”Sure, I’m all ears.” Loki said, looking down at Peter with a smile before pretending to close his mouth with a zipper to keep his secrets.

Peter opened his eyes to watch Loki pretend to zip his mouth shut. He narrowed his eyes at the boy, as if making sure he was being genuine, before speaking. “So, uhm, there was… there was one day, right, where I was eating lunch, and you were as well but on, like, a different table? And Doctor Stark came in to talk to you?” He paused to take a deep breath. “I… might’ve gotten _really_  jealous that he was talking to you and not me. Like, he didn’t even _look_  in my direction when he came into the cafeteria. I was so jealous.” He winced, waiting for Loki’s reaction.

”Oh, my God...” Loki laughed and threw his head back. ”I would have liked it a lot better if he didn’t come to me and went to you instead, honestly.” The boy laughed, trying to wipe off the grin from his face at the look Peter was giving him. ”I mean, I get it. You have a crush on him, so of course you’d get jealous.”

Peter glared at Loki as he laughed, lifting his hands to try and slap the boy lightly across the face. “Yeah, thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious.” He rolled his eyes, before lifting his head and sitting up properly on the bed. “Honestly I think I could talk about him for days, but you’d make fun of me for days.” He said, sticking his tongue out at Loki playfully.

”I don’t know how far their professional thing goes, you know? If you told him how you feel, but I doubt he could do anything. He’s your doctor.” Loki pointed out and turned to look at Peter. He felt all aged up again, but still fiddled with Spidey who was laying next to him on the bed.

 “I know...” Peter pouted, watching Loki play with one of Spidey’s limbs. “That’s why I hate it. I’m not _supposed_  to like him. Plus there’s the age gap, and... he probably had a girlfriend or something. I’ve not seen a wedding ring but... he’s so hot, someone’s _gotta_  have stolen him by now, right?” He said, and instantly he felt a lead weight in his stomach. He didn’t like the idea of someone else being with _his_  Daddy, not one bit.

Loki shrugged and picked up the toy to study in closer while all aged up. ”Could be that Strange guy. They are pretty close apparently.” The boy said and turned to look at Peter to see his reaction.

Peter frowned, then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so... Stark told me they studied together when they were becoming doctors. I think it’s just more of a rivalry than anything else. At least, I hope it is.” He said, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought. “Besides, Stark can do better than _him_.”

 “That’s true.” Loki chuckled and placed the stuffie right on Peter’s face, laughing when he pushed it off. ”So, what are you gonna do then?”

Peter huffed when Spidey was placed on his face, some of Spidey’s fur getting on his tongue. He pushed the stuffie off but tucked it under his arm. “I dunno. He... He’s a professional, he’s not gonna say anything even if there is a chance he likes me, which there isn’t.” He sighed. “I just wish I didn’t kiss him earlier...” he mumbled under his breath, looking down at Spidey’s beady eyes.

”You did what?!” Loki cried, moving to place his hands on either side of Peter’s head so that his face was right above Peter’s. ”You kissed him?!” He asked in disbelief

 “No! Not like a... not like a mouth kiss! I regressed, and he was teasing me to try and get me to admit that I’m pretty or whatever, and I didn’t know what to do so I just...” Peter leaned upwards and pressed his lips to the tip of Loki’s nose in a peck, before dropping his head back to the mattress. “I just did that, that’s all! And then I tried to apologise for it and he was all “not to worry blablabla I’m a professional dick” and I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole.” He rambled, his eyes wide.

Loki was a little taken aback by the kiss, but quickly realised it was quite innocent and relaxed again. ”Oh, my God... This is the best thing I have heard in years.” Loki grinned down and Peter. ”I think I figured out what your diagnosis is.”

Peter frowned at him, rolling his eyes. “Humour me, greaseball. What’s my diagnosis?” He huffed, but an amused smile played on his lips not matter how much he tried to seem annoyed.

”Love sick.” Loki said teasingly, letting his tongue out and rolling his eyes as if he was crazy or deathly ill.

Peter groaned, grabbing his pillow and shoving it in Loki’s face. “You’re an ass, you know that?” He laughed, dropping the pillow back onto his stomach and gazing up at the boy. “I thought you were gonna make some kind of “Daddy” or “Daddy issues” joke.”

Loki just grinned at Peter when he tried to hit him with the pillow, using his hands to shield himself. ”Is that your actual diagnosis or what?” The boy asked, his brows knot together in a confused expression

 “No, Stark said I have “issues with attachment” and a destroyed self esteem. He might as well have just said daddy issues, would’ve saved him a couple of syllables.” Peter rolled his eyes, before bringing his hands back up to squish Loki’s cheeks together.

”Stop!” Loki giggled and pushed Peter’s hands off his face. As revenge, the boy squished Peter’s cheeks together too and laughed at his fish-like face. ”Yeah, sounds like daddy issues.” He agreed.

 “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you _giggle_  before. Imagine what the staff here would pay to get that on audio.” Peter teased, stretching his arms and resting his hands under his head, looking up at Loki somewhat fondly.

"Shut up..." Loki said half-heartedly and shoved at Peter. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. After a while, Loki spoke again. "Why did you end up back here? You were here for the observation thing, but then you came back again?"

Peter grinned at the boy when he was shoved, sticking the tip of his tongue out between his teeth. However, his smile faded when Loki asked that particular question. “I, uh... Yeah, after the observation thing I was sent to see Doctor a Strange to continue the age regression therapy. I didn’t like him, though, cos he wasn’t... you know, he wasn’t _Stark_ , so I just refused to show up. And then that turned into a refusal to leave the house, to eat, to get out of bed. My aunt had to call this place cos I was losing so much weight.” He rambled, his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

Loki nodded as he listened to Peter. ”How was he? Strange, I mean.” Loki asked, curious to know more about Peter’s experience with him and whether he had the same poor experience as himself.

 “I mean, he was fine, but... I had already gotten that connection with Stark, it was hard to just move on and start a new one with someone else, you know? Not to mention the whole... crush thing.” Peter trailed off at that point, looking at Loki pointedly. His crush had inadvertently played a huge part in his disdain for Strange.

”Isn’t that it, though?” Loki pointed out and explained further when Peter gave him a puzzled look. ”Your attachment issues.”

 “I- Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish I didn’t get so attached to _him_ , you know?” Peter didn’t need to say who “he” was. “But it’s not like I can control it! He just... I... Fucks sake.” Peter groaned with frustration and grabbed his pillow, covering his face with it again.

”Yeah, yeah...” Loki agreed and patted the top of the pillow. ”I get that.” In a way, it was hilarious how flustered Peter was getting over his crush on the doctor, but at the same time it was sad. ”You’ll never get to be with him.” Loki sighed. ”Not like _that_.”

 “Gee, thanks for reminding me. That makes me feel _sooooo_  much better.” Peter huffed, moving the pillow off his face and sticking his tongue out again to show he was joking. “What about you, then, greaseball? Anyone caught your eye?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

”Well...” Loki blushed and turned his head around, biting his bottom lip to try and stop himself from grinning when a certain person came to his mind.

Peter immediately squealed when Loki’s pale face turned red, and he instantly sat up properly. “You like someone!! Tell me tell me tell me tell me!” He squealed, digging his fingers into Loki’s ribs to annoy him into talking.

Loki yelped in surprise and fell back on the bed to get away from Peter’s tickling. ”Okay, okay, I’ll tell! Just get off me!” He laughed and placed his foot on Peter’s chest to push him back. ”I haven’t only been here, like I used to stay at another hospital for quite some time and I- heh... I never got comfortable with the doctors, but there was this one nurse...” Loki trailed off, drawing randon patterns on the mattress as he talked

Peter giggled and fell backwards dramatically when Loki kicked him in the chest, but soon sat up on his knees and leaned in to listen. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open when Loki began to talk, and he squealed. “A nurse?! What were they like? Were they nice? Were they muscly like Barnes and Rogers are?”

”Even musclier than them actually.” Loki giggled, lifting a hand up to fiddle with his bottom lip with nervous energy. ”He was really tall and blonde and had this rumbling voice. It reminded me of thunder.”

 “Jeez...” Peter raised his eyebrows, impressed, and then began to giggle uncontrollably. When he spotted that Loki was looking at him, he calmed down enough to speak. “He sounds like a pornstar.” He whispered, and then promptly burst into giggles again.

”For fucks sake...” Loki grumbled and grabbed Peter’s pillow to hit him with it, but not hard enough to hurt, just to prove a point. ”Shut up! You actually kissed Stark!” Loki laughed and hit with the pillow again.

Peter laughed and held his hands up to his face to protect himself as Loki pummelled him with the pillow. “Hey! I didn’t _mean_  to! I bet you would’ve looooved to kiss that nurse.” He teased, trying to wrestle the boy to get the pillow out of his hands.

Loki held onto his pillow firmly and hit Peter once more on his head before placing the pillow in his lap. ”I don’t know... That would be weird.” The boy mumbled.

Peter took the last hit and then calmed down, watching the boy carefully. “Right, right...” They sat in silence for a little while longer, before Peter spoke again. “How did you... bring up the idea of spanking to Banner? Or was it his idea?” He asked, moving to lie down with his head on the pillow on Loki’s lap.

Loki let Peter lay his head in his lap and smiled down at him a little. ”I don’t know, don’t remember really... We sorta agreed on it together.” Loki shrugged before he realised. ”You want Stark to spank you, don’t you?” He asked with a cheeky grin, poking Peter’s cheek

Peter blushed _hard_  at that, and grabbed the boy’s finger. “Shu’up, Loki! Fuuuuck... yeah, I do.” He admitted, his cheeks a bright red and flaming. His heart was pounding and he felt a little lightheaded at the thought of it. “Is that... weird?”

”No, not really.” Loki said with another shrug, but he couldn’t help but laugh at Peter’s embarrassment. ”Banner said that it can be quite therapeutic if done correctly.” He added.

Peter hummed thoughtfully, thinking it through. “I just don’t know how to bring it up.” He said, dropping the boys finger from his grip and lifting his hands to cup Loki’s face.

Loki was about to answer, but then he raised his head to listen to the footsteps in the hall. After a moment, there was a sharp knock at the door and Tony was stood in the doorway. Before the doctor could say anything, Loki said with a grin. "Shall I bring it up for you?"

The knock to Peter’s door made Peter’s head fly up from Loki’s lap, so that he was sat properly on the mattress. He stared at the Doctor for a second, then over towards Loki, and his stomach dropped. “No, don’t you fucking dare!” Peter hissed, slapping his hand over Loki’s mouth and pulling the other boy into a headlock. “H-Hey, Doctor Stark! Nothing to- nothing to see here, Loki’s just being annoying _as always_.”

Loki yelped a little, but he wasn’t upset and just laughed at Peter’s reaction and the absurd situation they were in. ”I hope you two aren’t getting into trouble again.” Tony said and narrowed his eyes at the boys, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

 “No! No, we’re not, he’s just... he’s just... it’s nothing.” Peter let Loki go after a second, with a bony elbow shoved in the boy’s ribs as a warning to get him to shut up about what they were just talking about. He could see the smirk on Stark’s face and it made him melt, but he had to focus. “What’re you- what’re you- what’re you doin’ here?”

Loki scrambled away, still holding back laughter and a grin on his face before he settled down and sat in the bed. ”It’s time for our second session for the day.” Tony said to Peter before turning to the other boy. ”And Doctor Banner is ready to see you, so we will all walk together.” The doctor said and gestured to the halls with his head

Peter and Loki both side-eyed one another knowingly, though Loki was far more amused than Peter, before they both got off the bed and headed towards the door. Peter quickly grabbed Spidey before he left, holding him one arm as they made their way down the corridor. “If you say anything about... what we were talking about... to anyone, greaseball...” Peter muttered lowly to the other boy, hyperaware of the Doctor behind them.

”Yeah, yeah, Peter.” Loki groaned out quietly and pretended to zip his lips closed again, winking at Peter before he stopped by Banner’s office door. ”You two seem to get along.” The doctor pointed out as he and Peter walked further down the hall to his office. He made a little show of using his keycard when he opened his door and gave Peter a little look.

“Prick...” he muttered under his breath to the boy, but couldn’t hide his amusement before Loki disappeared into Banner’s office. He shrugged in response to Stark’s question. “He’s, like, the only person here who’s a similar age to me. He makes fun of me a lot though.” He said, struggling to hide his grin at Loki’s playful teasing, but his smile promptly dropped when he saw the look Stark gave him. He blushed violently and headed into the office, avoiding Stark’s eyes the entire time.


	23. 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter discusses his trauma.

”Do you make fun of him as well?” Tony asked, closing the door behind them and went to head over to take a seat in one of the two chairs.

 “Yeah, yeah, it’s... it’s a two way thing. He’s funny. But don’t tell him I told you that, otherwise he’d kill me. Or spill the dirt he has on me.” Peter said, moving to lie down on the couch nearby. His head hit the couch cushion and he balanced Spidey on his chest.

Tony chuckled a little at Peter’s dramatic language. ”What kind of dirt does he have on you?” The doctor asked, looking at the boy on the sofa

Peter’s eyes widened and he gulped. “I... I can’t tell you. It’s too embarrassing.” He said, pausing for a second. “He, uhm, he told me what his discipline was, though. Like, what Banner did to him.” He mumbled, trying his best to find a way of bringing up the topic of spanking without saying it outright.

”And what did he tell you?” Tony asked. He couldn’t tell Peter about other patients’ care, but he could talk to the boy about what he already knew.

 “He, uh, told me that Banner s-spanked him.” Peter could feel his face heating up quickly, and saying that word in particular made him so flustered he could no longer look the doctor in the face, instead choosing to look down at the floor. He was itching to ask if they could do it, but over-enthusiasm would be weird... right?

Tony could neither confirm, nor deny Peter’s claim, but he did know that it was true. And based on how flustered the boy was getting, he had some thoughts and feelings about what he had just said. ”And what do you think of that?”

Fuck. Peter should’ve known he was going to ask him that. He couldn’t even look Doctor Stark in the eye, how was he going to admit that he /really/ liked that idea? “It... It sounds...” Act natural, Pete. Don’t fuck it up. “It sounds cathartic.”

”Why do you think that?” Tony asked further. He knew both from research and work experience that Peter’s claim was true, but he still wanted to investigate what the boy thought of the topic.

Peter shrugged. “It just... I dunno, it sounds like it is. It... it sounds good.” He mumbled, now covering his face with his hands so that the doctor couldn’t see his blush. He squirmed where he laid as well, clearly getting flustered.

Tony let his smirk show now that the boy had hidden his face behind his hands. ”Some patients in age regression therapy do have deals with their caregivers when it comes to such practices.” The doctor explained before he asked. ”Is spankings something you are interested in, Peter?”

The boy paused for a minute, before nodding fervently. He couldn’t believe he was asking for something like this from the Doctor, and part of him wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He clenched his fists in front of his face, still flustered.

Seeing how flustered Peter was, Tony decided to explain some more. ”You were quite correct when you said that spankings are cathartic. Many patients describe the experience as pleasant and it grounds them. Some even say that the physical pain and crying helps them relax afterwards. It is like an outlet for all their inner turmoil.”

 “Right, right...” Peter nodded, slowly moving his hands away from his face to see Doctor Stark watching him rather intently. Here goes nothing. “A-And... if we were to do that, would you be the one... the one doing it?” He asked nervously, his gaze flickering between the doctor’s face and his shoes.

”If you’d like me to, yes.” Tony nodded before he added. ”You could also request someone else.” But the doctor had a feeling he wouldn’t want anyone else.

 “No, no, it’s... it’s fine. I’ll, uhm, I’ll stick with you, cos like you know me best ‘n stuff.” Shut up, Peter, just shut _up_! He offered a nervous smile in the doctor’s direction, but stayed silent otherwise. He shrunk into his hoodie, sticking his hands into its pocket and hunching his shoulders over.

Tony smiled a little in return before he eyed the nervous boy. It seemed so long ago that the boy had first been brought to his care, storming out of his office and nothing but skin and bones. ”But this is a big decision, Peter, so before we make any decisions, I’d like you to think about it first, all right? Then we can come back to it another time.” The doctor suggested, but didn’t leave the boy much choice.

Peter should’ve known that was coming, but he was still a little disappointed nonetheless. “Sure, yeah, that’s fine.” He nodded, looking away from the Doctor awkwardly for a couple of seconds. He continued to shrink a little further into his clothes, bringing his knees up to his chest.

Tony watched the boy for a while and he could tell that his head was spinning with a lot of thoughts, so he let him be for a little while before he spoke. ”How have you been today? I heard from Steve that you left lunch a little early with Loki.”

 “Hm? Oh, yeah...” Peter finally lifted his gaze to look the Doctor in the eye. “Loki, uhm, was still regressed after his... after Banner disciplined him, so I let him come to my room ‘n meet Spidey. And then we just... talked lots.” He said, his hand slowly coming up to tuck the tip of his thumb in between his lips.

”What did you two talk about?” Tony asked, genuinely curious to hear what sort of relationship the two patients had with one another, especially after their little stunt together earlier in the day.

 “Uhm... a bunch of things. Therapy, stuffies... Don’t tell anyone but he let me braid his hair.” He stifled a giggle at that. “But I didn’t get to complete the braid cos then he started making fun of... of my crush on someone. So then I started teasing _him_  and then we just... I dunno. He’s nice, but he doesn’t want you to know that.”

”Right.” Tony chuckled. Peter was more or less right when it came to Loki, but he couldn’t help but be happy for them both as he saw a friendship blossoming between them. ”How would you describe your relationship with Loki?”

 “Uhh... I dunno. I wouldn’t say we’re _friends_  yet, I don’t think. I’ve been in his room, though, and he’s been in mine. And I let him meet Spidey. I told him, I said I don’t let just _anyone_  meet Spidey, you know?” He explained, his hands moving in gestures before coming to rest on Spidey’s head.

”I see. So, it’s an honour to get to meet your Spidey?” Tony said with a little smile as he watched Peter hold his precious toy. ”And what would it take for you to see Loki as a friend?”

 “Mhm!” Peter nodded in agreement, running his fingers through Spidey’s fur slowly. When Stark asked the second question, however, he paused to think. “I, uhm... well... I think he’d have to decide that we’re friends. You know him, he’s very... closed off a lot of the time. I wanna be friends with him, but I think he has to... be the one that says we’re friends, you know? I don’t wanna rush him.” He rambledz

Tony nodded along. ”I see. So, you’ve got to know Loki, Steve and Bucky. I also heard that you met Doctor Strange again a couple of days ago.”

 “Y-Yeah, I did. He was... nice, I guess.” Peter hummed, his thumb still between his lips as he watched the Doctor with wide eyes.

”What happened when you met him again?” Tony asked, hoping to get to the topic of Peter’s nightmare that night as he had read about it in Strange’s notes in Peter’s file.

Peter narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling where this conversation was going. “I was wandering the halls at night, ‘n I bumped into him.” He said carefully, becoming a little more uncomfortable.

”Why were you wondering it the halls at night?” Tony asked, noticing how Peter tensed up a little.

Peter let out a heavy breath through his nose. Fine. “I had a nightmare.” He said, frowning with his chin resting on his kneecaps.

Finally, Tony thought to himself, but moved ahead cautiously. ”Tell me about it, Peter.” The doctor urged gently.

Peter let out a shaky breath before he spoke. “I-I dreamt I had to watch Uncle B-Ben get shot again. It was like the whole thing was replayed, wh-when the burglar came into our house and... and killed him. I couldn’t do anything, I was just... I was just forced to watch.” Peter said, biting down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood to stop himself from crying. His fists clenched and his shoulders shook as he tried to keep his breathing steady. “When I woke up, I-I had regressed. I didn’t know what to do.”

 “I... I miss him so much. And I- I-“ Peter couldn’t finish his sentence before he finally broke, tears streaming down his face and his shoulders still shaking. He hid his face from view, trying his best to compose himself and wipe the tears from his cheeks, but they continued to flow and so Peter continued to cry. “I- I miss him _so much_.”

Tony decided to get up from his seat and sit next to Peter on the sofa, placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, just sat there and comforted the boy while letting him cry it out.

Peter continued to cry for a couple of minutes, during which time he grabbed Doctor Stark’s hand and pulled it over both of his shoulders, before scrambling to bury his face into Stark’s labcoat. He hiccuped for a while until he settled down. “I-I just wish I could’ve helped him...”

Tony held the boy while he cried, rubbing his shoulder. ”You wish you could have helped him. What do you mean by that?” The doctor asked, wanting to know if Peter’s guilt was logical.

Peter sighed. “I... I know I couldn’t do anything at the time. Like... when it actually happened. I was asleep, and I just- I heard the gun go off, and then I had to run to find Ben... but I wish my dream was... nicer, like it gave me a way to... I dunno, knock the robber out or something so he couldn’t... he couldn’t...”

Tony had heard way worse traumas that his patients had gone through, but for the first time he felt an overwhelming urge to protect the boy from ever experiencing any hurt. The doctor was a little baffled by his own reaction for a second before he returned his attention to Peter. ”How old were you then?”

 “I was...” Peter had to think it over for a moment. “Fifteen. I think. Yeah, fifteen. So a couple of years ago.” He mumbled, turning his body to stretch out on the couch and keep his head nestled against Stark’s side.

”You were quite young.” Tony pointed out, still keeping a hand on his shoulder to keep him grounded while talking about his trauma. He gave the boy some more time to think.

Peter didn’t say anything in response, merely nodded. He shuffled a little bit more so that his head was in Stark’s lap, with his legs stretched out properly, and he took the hand that was on his shoulder into his own hands to fiddle with the man’s fingers. “I just feel guilty for Aunt May, you know? She... it’s harder for her than it is for me.”

Tony let the boy fiddle with his hand until he placed it on the boy's head. ”How so?” He asked, running his fingers through the boy's curls.

Peter shivered at the pleasant feeling of having his hair played with. This must have been what Loki was talking about earlier when he mentioned how Banner did it, he thought to himself. “It’s just harder for her. Ben was her husband, you know? And now she has to look after me all by herself, and... with everything that’s going on here, it must be exhausting.”

That is a lot of worries for a 15 year old who should be carefree and doing dumb things with their friends, Tony thought to himself as he listened. ”How did she take it? Losing her husband?”

 “I think she tried to appear strong for my sake, but... whether she actually felt that way, I don’t know.” Peter mumbled, falling into silence once more and making no attempt to restart the conversation. He began to cry once more silently, wiping his face clumsily to get rid of the evidence of tears.

Tony kept stroking Peter's hair while he cried. He let the boy have a moment before he asked more. ”Have you and May talked about this together?”

“Uhm… a couple of times, but it usually gets too emotional.” Peter said, beginning to fiddle with Spidey once more. He hugged the stuffie close to his chest, sighing softly. “Can… can we talk about something else now? It’s… this is…” Just by hugging his stuffie, Peter could feel himself slipping into littlespace, and it was an effort to stay aged up.

”Of course.” Tony assured with a little smile. ”That must have been hard for you to talk about. You should be proud of yourself, Peter.” The doctor pointed out before running his fingers through the boy's curls again.

Peter nearly purred at the combination of the praise and the fingers going through his hair. “Th-Thanks…” He mumbled, squirming on the couch. “I… I like when you play with my hair, D-Daddy.” He admitted, the title being the final thing to push him into deep littlespace.

”Yeah, you like that, little one?” Tony cooed a little, slipping into the caregiver role easily and using his nails to scratch at the boy's scalp.

“Ngh…” Peter choked out a noise of content when he felt Doctor Stark’s fingernails drag along his scalp. Goosebumps erupted on his skin and he wriggled on the couch, turning to get into a better position and offer more of the top of his head to Stark’s rubbing fingers. “’s good…” He slurred, one hand coming up to rest on Stark’s thigh.

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle at Peter’s cat-like behaviour. ”Hmm...” He hummed with a smile and continued to scratch the boy’s scalp. ”You just rest a little now, Peter. You did good today. Such a brave boy.”

Peter sniffed, curling his legs up so that he was more like a ball against the side of Doctor Stark’s thigh. “’m… brave? I’m not… I’m not _brave_ … I’m just… me.” He mumbled, drumming his fingertips against Doctor Stark’s leg.

”Talking about what you just did, that takes courage, Peter.” Tony said. ”And that makes you brave.” The doctor argued, stroking the boy’s curls out of his eyes.

“Huh…” Peter hummed, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. He let his eyes shut for a moment, hypnotized by the soothing feeling of Doctor Stark’s fingertips scratching against his scalp. “D-Do you really think I’m pretty?” He asked carefully, his eyes still shut. A deep part of him hoped that the man meant pretty in the way he wanted him to, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case.

Tony wasn’t entirely sure how far Peter was regressed now, but he couldn’t deny it either way as that would only cause his already fragile self esteem to plummet. ”Of course I do, Peter. You’re brave, clever and pretty.” The doctor emphasised.

Peter almost _vibrated_  with excitement when Doctor Stark said that. “Pretty enough to eat, Mr. Wolf?” He asked lightly, then erupted into giggles. He didn’t move from where he laid, however, instead choosing to shuffle an extra bit closer so that his head was properly in the man’s lap.

Tony moved his hand a little when the boy shuffled his head properly onto his lap. He looked down at him with a grin. ”Far too pretty _not_  to eat.” He chuckled, his hand still in Peter’s curls.

Peter didn’t pretend to be scared, instead continuing to giggle as Doctor Stark grinned down at him. He lifted his hands to sit atop Stark’s, and then lifted them to his face, squishing the man’s cheeks.

Tony snorted at Peter's gesture and whipped his head around to free his face. The boy looked so adorable when in little space and the doctor felt his heart ache just a bit. "You got some prying hands, don't you, Petey?" Tony chuckled.

Peter’s hands recoiled when Stark tossed his head, shrinking into himself when the man looked down at him. “Can’t help it. I like your beard, wanna... wanna touch it.” He said, slowly reaching his hands up again but keeping a distance between them and the man’s face. “Pretty beard...” he mumbled, looking at it intently.

"All right, you can pet my beard if you'd like." Tony chuckled and ruffled Peter´s hair before continuing to stroke it gently.

Peter grinned, slowly dragging his fingertips through it for a couple of seconds before daring to poke at the man’s lips. He dropped his hands again before Stark could grab them, giggling profusely. “Daddy... what’s your favourite colour?” He asked, out of sheer curiosity.

Tony grinned when Peter touched his lips and felt a spark of arousal, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. "My favourite colour... I think red or black. What about you?"

 “Red? That’s mine too!” Peter squealed, his face breaking out into a grin that spread from ear to ear. “Either that or blue.” He added as an afterthought, but still looked pleased.

"What about your favourite animal?" Tony asked with a smile, keeping up the lighthearted conversation while still cradling the boy's head in his lap.

Peter hummed, thinking it through. “Spidey.” He said resolutely. He didn’t say spider, or tarantula, just ‘Spidey’. He lifted the stuffie to emphasise his point, moving it closer to Stark’s face. “What about you?”

"Yeah, Spidey is cool." Tony agreed before he thought for a second. "Animal, hmm... Leopard, I think." The doctor said, waiting for Peter's reaction.

 “Leopard? Big cat.” Peter pointed out, thinking it through. “Big ‘n scary, I bet you think you’re like them!” He giggled, snorting as he looked up at the Doctor. “You’re not scary, you’re a biiiig softie. Big soft teddy bear.”

Tony laughed at Peter’s adorable and carefree giggle, placing his hand on the boy’s side now. ”I don’t know, I just always had a fascination with them. Why do you like spiders then?”

Peter shrugged. “I dunno. They’re cool lookin’, even with all their legs ‘n stuff.” He noticed the man’s hand moving to his side and instantly he grabbed it with both of his own. “Gotcha!” He cried, his face in a large grin. “Your hand is mine now, wolfie.” He said, lifting the hand up to his face and pretending to nibble on the man’s fingers.

Tony yelped a little and laughed when Peter grabbed his hand. ”No! Is this revenge?” He groaned out, trying to free his hand half-heartedly

 “Mhm!” Peter nodded enthusiastically, gripping even tighter onto Doctor Stark’s hands. He dared to bring the very tips of Stark’s fingers to his mouth and kiss his lips to them, before nibbling gently around them. “You’re just as tasty too, Mr. Wolf...”

Tony had done plenty of age regression therapy with patients where some would suck their thumbs or pacifiers, but never had his own fingers so close to a patient’s mouth. However, he wanted Peter to suck him fingers and that made him panic just a bit. ”Okay, okay. No eating of fingers.” The doctor chuckled, pulling his hand back, but still let the boy keep his hand in his grasp. ”Would you like to try something, little one?”

Peter pouted but otherwise let the man pull his hand back. He kept a hold of the man’s hands, though, drumming his own fingertips against Stark’s palm. “Try something like what?” He asked, tilting his head to one side on the doctor’s lap and his eyes widening with curiosity.

”You’ll have to let go of my hand to find out.” Tony said with a smile, moving his hand back and forth until the boy let go. Carefully, he eased Peter’s head off his lap to go to his desk.

Peter whined, but dropped the man’s hand willingly. His head dropped to the couch cushion when the doctor stood up, and he rolled onto his side so he could watch the man move. “What is it?” He asked again, trying his best to squint to see what Doctor Stark was getting from his desk.

Tony found what he was looking for swiftly and walked back to the sofa, holding the item in his hand. ”You know what this is?” He said, showing the clear little box with an adult sized pacifier inside of it. It had been sterilised recently and was ready for use.

Peter frowned, taking the box from the Doctor and peering into it. “It’s a... it’s a binky.” He said, but his face was still in a frown. “‘m not a _baby_.” He huffed, though his glare was less threatening and more childlike than anything else.

 “I know, Peter.“ Tony assured and crouched down in front of Peter on the sofa so that they had good eye contact. “Many little boys and girls find it soothing to have a binky now and then, but that doesn’t make them babies. Do you want to try it? You can stop whenever you like.“ The doctor explained with a soothing tone.

Peter continued to frown, even when he was making eye contact with the doctor. He shook his head at the request, his hair flopping around his face. “Nuh uh. ‘s... ‘s embarrassing.” He said, his cheeks beginning to heat up.

”Okay, maybe another time.” Tony said, going back to his desk to put the pacifier away. ”What would you like to do, little one? He still have 20 minutes.” The doctor said

 “Uhm...” Peter sat up on the couch properly, tucking his legs under him so that he was kneeling on the seat. “I dunno... Can I, uhm, draw?” He asked, remembering how Loki said that he liked to draw and colour as well.

”Sure. I'll fetch the crayons and you can pick a spot where you want to sit.” Tony explained and went to one of the shelves in his office where he kept art supplies.

Peter nodded, sliding off the couch and shuffling over to the small table in the corner of the room. He sat cross legged on the floor with Spidey in his lap, his mind already racing with ideas of what he was going to draw.

”Here you go, Peter.” Tony said, placing a cup filled with crayons and a stack of drawing paper in front of the boy. ”You got any ideas for what you want to draw?” He asked, sitting down on one of the chairs so that he was facing the boy

Peter hummed, thinking to himself. “Sometimes I just... draw random shapes. Like, look...” He began to draw, the tip of his tongue poking out between his lips in concentration as he drew a clumsy spider-web. “See? And then I just...” he began to expand the spiderweb outwards, making it reach the corners of the paper. “I can’t really... draw faces very well, otherwise I’d try ‘n draw you.” He said, snorting.

Tony hummed at Peter's creation when he showed it to him. ”Yeah, drawing faces can be tricky.” The doctor made a note on how the boy was beginning to become obsessed with him. He really hoped it wouldn't become a problem and that he would have to refer the boy to another psychiatrist. To be honest with himself, he was starting to grow fond of Peter.

Peter continued to draw his spiderwebs for a little while until he got bored of them, sitting back and tapping the crayon against his chin as he thought to himself. “Can you draw?” He asked the man.

Tony watched Peter’s drawing for a while until he lifted his gaze to meet the boy’s eyes. ”Oh, I’m not really an artist.” The doctor winced a little.

Peter pouted at that. “That’s okay, neither am I. You know, I bet _Strange_ can draw...” he said absentmindedly, but with a definitive look of mischief in his eyes, and a knowing grin on his lips. He remembered what Stark had said about their med school rivalry, and so he sat with the crayon still in his hand, tentatively waiting for Stark’s reaction.

Tony knew that the boy had made a wild guess, but still he got it right and the doctor felt a wave of competitiveness wash over him and his expression hardened. He grumbled under his breath and grabbed a paper and a dark red crayon before sketching something.

Peter began to giggle, knowing he had hit the nail on the head with the observation. Seeing the man that... competitive, that... _like that_ , made Peter’s heart race a little bit faster and his head feel a little bit lighter. He watched the doctor carefully as he drew, trying to see what the sketch was but not getting very far with Stark’s arm blocking the view. “What’cha drawing?” He asked lightly, still giggling to himself.

Tony looked at his drawing, humming and muttering to himself as his drawing began to take some shape. It turned out to be a minimalistic sketch of a leopard in an upright and standing position, its long tail curving upwards. “I tried to make a leopard.” Tony said and flipped the paper around so that Peter could see.

Peter took the paper carefully, peering down at it. “Woah, this is _so cool_! You can see the spots ‘n everything!” He said, genuinely impressed at how good the drawing was. For Peter, it was less about the drawing itself and more about how Doctor Stark drew it, which made it good. “And look at his lil’ tail!” He squealed, following the shape of it with his fingertips.

Tony smiled genuinely at Peter’s amazement with his rough sketch. However, Strange could have made a much better one, for sure. He knew that the anatomy was off, but he still liked it. ”Do you want to finish it? Colour it in and such? It could be our little shared project.” The doctor suggested.

Peter looked at it for a little while longer, almost hypnotised by it, but Stark’s voice made him look up. “Huh? Oh yeah, yeah!” He nodded, instantly looking through the cup of crayons to find a yellow, a brown and a black crayon. Once he had them, he very carefully coloured it in, trying his best to stay inside the lines while his eyes narrowed and his tongue stuck out.

Tony watched with a smile on his face while Peter coloured his sketch. While he watched, his gaze slowly moved upwards to Peter’s tongue and how it was sticking out from between his pink and pretty lips. Tony shook his head a little and grimaced at himself before putting on his professional face again.

Peter was so concentrated he didn’t even look up at the man as he worked, reaching for a green crayon to draw little tufts of grass around the leopard’s feet, before sitting back finally. “It’s finished!” He said, turning the paper back around so Doctor Stark could have a look at it.

”That look brilliant!” Tony smiled, taking the paper into his hand to study it closer. ”I love the colours you picked and the detail with the grass. Well done, Peter.” The doctor praised. The boy had done a great job with colouring it in and Tony genuinely liked how it turned out.

Peter puffed his chest out proudly at the praise, and he liked the smile that seemed to wash over Stark’s face as he looked at what they made together. “Maybe you can... put it on your wall or somethin’. I dunno, keep it safe in a drawer maybe?” He shrugged, looking around the office.

”I thought you could keep it.” Tony said with a smile and handed the drawing back to Peter. ”You did most of the brilliant work, after all.”

 “Me?” Peter took the paper back, looking down at it and then back up at the Doctor. “But _you_  drew it! I-“ Peter looked back down at the drawing again. “Thanks, D-Daddy.” He mumbled, a soft pink blush spreading across his cheeks and the tips of his ears as he looked down at the drawing. He had a feeling he’d be putting this up right next to his bed.

”You’re welcome.” Tony smiled and glancing up at clock on the wall, he saw that one of the nurses would be fetching Peter soon. ”Peter, I’d like you to think about something for tomorrow.”

Peter was still staring down at the drawing in his hands when Doctor Stark began talking again, but snapped out of his reverie by the man’s request. “Hm? Yeah?” He hummed, looking up at the Doctor properly.

”You’ve been back on your medications for almost a week now and I’d like you to think about how you’ve been feeling. Then we can talk about it tomorrow and see if it’s the right combination for you or if we need to change something. Okay?” Tony explained and then raised his brows a little to get the boy to obey.

Peter’s shoulders sagged at that. Boring medical stuff... right. It seemed to bring him back to reality, that the man wasn’t someone he had a chance with, he was his _Doctor_  for fucks sake. He nodded to himself. “Yeah, sure...” he mumbled, his good mood slowly dissipating.

”Good. And then we could also discuss when your next medical exam should be. I can tell already that you’ve gained some weight, so that’s good.” Tony explained, but when he noticed Peter’s mood turning more blue, he sat up a little. ”Peter.”

Peter could feel himself ageing up second by second, and it sent him down a self-depreciating spiral as he realised what he was trying to do. He was trying to get his doctor, a professional, interested in him while he was working. It made him feel a little bit sick, but the sudden calling of his name made him flinch and look up. “Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, that’s fine...” he said, having not taken in a single word of what the man had just said.

”You’re doing really well. With your therapy, I mean.” Tony pointed out with a little smile. ”Keep going in that direction.” He added right before there was a knock at the door and Bucky entered.

Peter nodded, not offering anything in the way of a verbal response, before Bucky showed up at the door. He moved to get up, grunting with the effort and stretching his limbs out after being sat on the floor for that long. Grabbing Spidey and the leopard drawing, he headed to the door, quietly waving at Doctor Stark before heading out into the hallway with the nurse.

”I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter.” Tony said and smiled at the boy as he got up and left with the nurse. Once he was left alone, the doctor let out a heavy sigh and walked to the window. He looked outside for a moment before pressing his forehead against the cool glass and muttering to himself. ”What the fuck are you doing, Stark?”

Bucky tried his best to make conversation with Peter, but the boy wasn’t having any of it as he made his way back to his room. He waved the nurse off before shutting his bedroom door behind him, and soon collapsed on the bed with his face buried in the pillow. He couldn’t believe this was happening. Sure, the crush was a fun thing at first, nothing harmful, but Loki’s comment about how it would never work seemed to fester in Peter’s mind and make him feel sick. It wasn’t right to feel like this, not when there was nothing to be gained from it.

Tony could get fired for this. He should get fired for this. ”Oh, God...” The doctor began pacing his office as his thoughts spiraled downwards. The image of Peter’s pretty pink lips around his fingers, the warmth and comfortable weight of his head on his lap and how his eyes became so wide and innocent when he looked up at him had Tony cursing himself under his breath.

Peter whimpered, his head swimming with thoughts that all related to Doctor Stark. It was hard to think of anything else, and Peter couldn’t get enough of him. But it was wrong. He wasn’t a complete idiot, he knew that it would never happen. The pain of that knowledge shot through him like a bullet, and he was left curled up on the mattress of his bed, trying his best to forget about the doctor’s deep brown eyes, his confident and cheeky smirk, and the lab coat that sat so perfectly on his broad shoulders that it made Peter want to scream.

Tony knew what he should do, and that was to refer Peter to someone else. Their relationship as strictly doctor and patient was getting compromised and as the professional, it was Tony’s responsibility to end their relationship. But how could he? He had tried to refer the boy to Strange, but his condition had just plummeted. There was no way he could live with himself if he caused the boy such hurt again.

Peter groaned, finally sitting up in bed and reaching over to look at the leopard drawing Doctor Stark had given him. He went and placed the paper over on his desk, as a reminder to ask the nurses for some blu-tac so he could put it up on his wall. He then went back over to his bed, where Spidey was sat patiently for him, and scooped the stuffie up into his arms. He had no idea what he was going to do about the whole Stark situation. Hoping that the man would be more unprofessional was selfish on his part, but seeing how detached the man was made his heart hurt. He had no idea what to do.

Suddenly Tony was hit with a sensable thought. ”Just two more weeks...” Tony muttered to himself, letting out a sigh. Just two more weeks till Peger would have to be released and he would hopefully never have to see him again. Just two more weeks. He just had to get through two more weeks and help Peter get well enough to never need his attention anymore.

Peter sighed. Two more weeks of seeing him. He had no idea whether his heart could take that. Sure, he had Loki to speak to if he needed to, but... two weeks of seeing the man twice a day, allowing himself to become that much more vulnerable and open. He had a feeling he was only setting himself up for more heartbreak. A part of him couldn’t wait for tomorrow, so he could see Stark again, but thinking like that was only going to make things worse.


	24. 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter tells stark his secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is dummy thicc. enjoy!

The next morning, Tony had to cover for a nurse who was late because of a flat tire. He stood by the wall chatting with Steve and occasionally scanned the canteen with his eyes while the patients ate their breakfast. He saw that Peter was sat with Loki, but luckily the boy had his back turned to him.

Steve came to wake Peter up the next day, eliciting a loud, obnoxious groan from the boy which made Steve chuckle. He got changed into his usual outfit and headed to the canteen, immediately spotting Loki sat by himself and heading over to join him. “Hey, Lo.” He mumbled, his mood still blue from yesterday. He made sure he was facing away from Stark, who he had noticed was standing in the canteen. Great. Brilliant. Fantastic.

”Did you leave your rainbows and unicorns in your room or what?” Loki chuckled, seeing how Peter practically laying on the table rather than sitting by it. ”And I thought I was depressing.” He added and laughed a little, poking Peter on his cheek with his fork

Peter frowned at him, sticking his tongue out and trying his best not to start laughing at how Loki poked him. “Fuck off, greaseball.” He said not unkindly, poking at his cereal with his spoon. “I just... this shit with Stark. It’s fuckin’ exhausting.” He mumbled, finally sitting up properly but slumping with his face against one hand.

”What? Did you try to kiss him again? He’s gonna send you off if you keep doing that, you know.” Loki said teasingly and poked Peter again.

Peter rolled his eyes and lifted his hand to try and push at Loki’s face. “No, I didn’t _kiss_  him, idiot. Just... I dunno. Your comment about how nothing can happen between us, it just stuck with me, that’s all.” He explained, taking the smallest bite of his cereal and chewing on it thoughtfully. “How did your session with Banner go?”

At the mention of Banner, Loki dropped his gaze and shrank a little where he sat. ”It was all right. Just the usual.” He said simply, not wanting to get into what he had actually told Banner during their session.

Peter could sense Loki shrinking in on himself, but chose not to bring it up. “Fair enough.” He nodded, and they went back to eating in comfortable silence. “I- Ugh.” Peter spoke again after a while, dropping his spoon into his bowl. “I can just _feel_  his eyes on me, is that weird?” He asked, turning to Loki discreetly.

Loki turned to look at the doctor in question and chuckled a little when he whipped his head around to face Steve instead, as if he hadn’t just been looking at Peter. ”Yeah, you’re crazy. Why do you think you’re here in the first place?” Loki snorted and took another bite of his food while still looking at Peter

 “Oh haha, very funny.” Peter rolled his eyes and kept a deadpan expression as Loki teased him. His face got lower and lower down his arm until his head was back on the table, and his arm was stretched out across it. “I can’t believe _you’re_  the happier one out of the two of us right now. It’s like we’re in the Twilight Zone or something.”

”Must be the drugs.” Loki grinned and snorted again before continuing to eat his food, leaving Peter to sulk for a while. ”So, how did your session go? For real?”

Peter swirled his spoon around his cereal bowl, not intending to eat any of it, until Loki spoke. “It... well, it started with me, uhm, bringing up spanking.” His entire face went red at that point, but he continued. “And then we discussed when I met Doctor Strange, and then... he played with my hair for a bit, and he drew me a picture of a leopard and let me colour it in.”

Loki nearly choked on his food and set down his fork after swallowing hard, shooting Peter a look. ”You did what now? You asked him about the spanking?” The boy said with a lower voice, as not to draw attention to himself. ”What did he say?”

Peter nodded, chuckling when he saw how Loki nearly choked on his food. “He, uhm, he agreed to it but said we needed to discuss it more at a different time. I dunno if that’ll be today, tomorrow, who knows?” Peter said, sitting up and resting his chin on the palm of his hand. “Actually asking him about it took me ages, I was so nervous. I wasn’t about to go _‘spank me, daddy!’_ to him, was I?” He said, putting on a high pitched pornstar voice when doing his imitation.

Tony felt his stomach drop when he heard Peter’s high pitched voice and what he had said. He swallowed thickly and tried to avert his gaze anywhere else, but at Peter. Meanwhile, Loki shrugged with a hum. “That’s how I said it, though.” He joked with a grin.

Peter froze, before bursting into laughter, genuine laughter, at what Loki said. “No way, you gotta be bullshitting me.” He said, but then spotting the jokey grin on the boy’s face, he shoved at his shoulder. “Anyways, he said he’d be up for it, but knowing him it’s gonna be so clinical and detached that I might as well be spanked by a robot.” He said glumly. “Oh, oh, you should’ve _seen_  the look on his face yesterday...” and he went into the story about the drawing, and how he brought up Strange.

The late nurse finally arrived, a little flustered and apologetic as she came over to Tony and Steve. The doctor excused himself and left the canteen in a hurry. Meanwhile, Loki was so transfixed by Peter’s story about Strange and tried to hold back laughter so that Peter could finish the story. By the end of it, he finally cracked up and covered his mouth to try and silence his laughter.

 “...so I was like “I bet _Strange_  can draw” and honestly, Lo, you should’ve seen his face, he looked like thunder!” Peter snorted, also breaking down into giggles and slapping the table in his mirth. They were so caught up in their story that neither one of them had noticed the changeover of staff. Peter was only made aware of it when Loki looked over in that direction and immediately looked puzzled, which made Peter turn as well. “Where did he go?”

”Dunno.” Loki shrugged. ”The doctors rarely hang around here though.” He added, but didn’t pay it much mind and returned to his food while still laughing a bit.

 “Huh...” Peter hummed, still looking where the doctor had previously been standing. “But if they rarely hang out here, why was he here to begin with?” He asked under his breath. Soon, he also turned back to his food, and ate a bit more cereal.

Loki didn’t really answer, just shrugged and finished his food. ”Oh! I heard some rumours that there’s a new nurse coming here in a couple of days. Maybe one of those assholes are getting fired.” He chuckled and gestured to Steve and another nurse who were still stood behind them.

Peter frowned, and flicked the boy’s ear. “They aren’t assholes! Well, Steve isn’t. He’s dumb as a bag of rocks but he’s not an asshole. New nurse sounds exciting though, wonder what they’ll be like...” Peter thought to himself, before pushing his bowl away from him. “This cereals too soggy.”

”Just remember I’ve been here way longer than you have. I know these people.” Loki stressed before also pushing his breakfast aside. The canteen was buzzing today, with patients chatting to one another and most were in a good mood. That happened everytime it was phone privilege days.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Right, cos you’re the _master_  of this place. I bet you run this place like a mob boss. All the staff are your lackeys.” Peter said, bursting into giggles again. He gazed around the canteen, noticing the optimistic mood. “Why’s everyone so happy today?”

Loki glared at the boy before following his gaze as he looked around. ”Phone privileges. People get to call home and such.” He said simply.

 “Oh... shit...” Peter groaned, before resting his forehead against the cool table. “I had my phone privileges taken away for today, after what happened yesterday.” He rested his hand by his head, clenching and unclenching it subconsciously as he tried to not feel guilty about how he couldn’t contact May.

”Same here.” Loki said a little absentmindedly as he didn’t look at anything in particular, just let his gaze wonder. ”As if Father wants to hear from me...” He said mostly to himself.

Peter heard Loki’s muttering and he frowned at that, but quickly lifted his head to look at the other boy. “Do you wanna come to my room again, while the phone stuff is going on? Gives us a distraction, you know?” He asked, fiddling with his cereal spoon.

Loki didn’t face Peter, but kept his gaze elsewhere, his mind wondering. ”Yeah, yeah, sure.” He mumbled.

Peter couldn’t help feel a little disheartened by that. Loki was clearly upset, and Peter didn’t like to see that. “Okay, well... I’m just gonna go ‘n brush my teeth ‘n stuff, and I’ll see you in a bit?” He offered, poking at the boy’s cheek to try and cheer him up before he got up and left the canteen.

Loki smiled a little, but not for long before his face fell again. He hummed and remained seated where he was for a while before leaving the canteen too.

Peter wandered back to his room, taking his time to freshen up before collapsing on his bed to wait for Loki to arrive. Five minutes turned to ten, then to twenty, and Peter became a bit concerned. Loki knew where his room was, why was he taking so long? He decided to search for the boy, going out into the halls and heading in the general direction of Loki’s room.

Steve was out wondering in the halls when he found Peter peeking into Loki’s room. ”What’s up, buddy?” The nurse asked as he walked over.

Peter looked over his shoulder at the nurse who was approaching him down the hallway. “Hey, Stevie. I invited Loki to my room during... during phone privilege time, and he said he was gonna come but he didn’t show up so I’m just wondering if he’s okay.” He said, trying to peer into the boy’s room.

”Loki’s with Doctor Banner right now.” Steve explained simply. He had brought the boy to the doctor himself a little while ago considering his poor mental state after breakfast, but he couldn’t tell Peter that. ”You’ll see him later though, I bet.” The nurse said with a little smile.

 “Oh... we were gonna... Okay. Right. That’s cool.” Peter mumbled, looking down at the floor and scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the linoleum. “Right, I’ll just head back to my room, then.” He said, trying not to look too disappointed.

"Wait up, Peter." Steve said and jogged a few steps to catch up to the boy. "There's a new nurse here. Would you like to meet him?" The nurse said with a cheerful smile. He knew about Peter´s punishment and that he had his phone privileges taken away and it wasn't uncommon for patients to be upset about that, so he tried to distract the boy.

Peter turned when he heard his name, stopping to let the nurse catch up with him. “Oh, he came today? Loki said he wouldn’t be here for a few days, I guess he was wrong. Sure, I’ll meet him.” He shrugged nonchalantly, following the man down the corridor.

”Lets see... Hope he has got lost or something.” Steve chuckled as they walked around a bit. He stopped by a door and opened it with his keycard. ”There you are!” Steve stepped back a bit to let the other nurse exit so that they were all stood in the hallway. ”Peter, this is Thor. Thor, Peter.”

Woah. The dude was big. Peter’s eyes widened as he gazed up at the man who towered over him. He looked even more intimidating than Steve and Bucky, and with bigger muscles Peter could probably hang off of with little trouble. “Steve... if eating this place’s lasagna gives you your muscles, what does _this_  guy eat?”

Thor cracked up at that and laughed as he patted Steve on his shoulder. ”He eats horses for breakfast.” Steve chuckled, shoving the man’s hand off himself.

”So, Peter, huh? Pleasure to meet you.” Thor said, extending a hand to the boy.

Peter looked down at the man’s goliath hand and blinked owlishly. That could probably cover his entire fist, he thought to himself as he took the nurses hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you too, sir.” He said, pure intimidation being enough to refer to the nurse by that title.

”Thor’s just fine, kiddo.” Thor smiled as he shook Peter’s hand before letting go. ”But what was that you said about the lasagna here?” The nurse asked, looking at both the boy and the coworker by his side.

Peter blushed a pale pink at that. “Oh, ‘s just... Rogers made a joke about the lasagna here, how it’s good enough for him to eat all the time, so I asked if that’s how he got his muscles.” He mumbled, glancing up at Steve as he spoke.

”Right, right.” Thor grinned at Steve’s embarrassed look. ”Nah, you gotta pump that iron, that’s the secret.” Thor said with a little shrug. ”But, I should get back to work. Lots of stuff to learn and become familiar with. ”I’ll see you around, Peter.” The new nurse said before heading back into the room that he had come from.

”So should I. One of us will come fetch you in a bit for your session, yeah?” Steve smiled and patted Peter’s shoulder before he walked off.

“Bye, Th-Thor.” He mumbled, waving his hand slightly in his direction before he disappeared back into the room. He barely had time to turn back to Steve before he was gone, and Peter was left alone in the corridor. “Brilliant...” Peter grumbled, before beginning to aimlessly wander the corridors. He eventually sat on the sill he first sat on when he was in the facility, his temple pressed against the cool glass of the window.

Half an hour passed and Steve found Peter on the window sill in the hallway where he had last seen him. ”Spotted any birds?” The nurse said casually, leaning against the wall so that he was facing the boy.

 “No, just pigeons...” Peter mumbled absentmindedly, lifting his head off the glass and looking up at the nurse. “I’m guessing it’s time?” He asked, swinging his legs off the sill and standing up, before following the man to the office.

”Yup. Another day, another session.” Steve joked a little as he escorted Peter to the doctor’s office. He knocked on the door before opening it with his keycard. ”I’ll come fetch you later.” The nurse said and left the boy to it.

Peter gulped, but otherwise walked through into the office. “Hey, Doctor.” He said mildly, trying his best to forget the conversation he’d had with Loki about spanking.

”Morning, Peter.” Tony said brightly, rising from his chair with some papers in his hand before he moved to one of the two chairs. ”Shall we sit down?” He said, gesturing to the chairs

Peter nodded wordlessly, taking the nearest chair and almost collapsing into it. His eyes were drawn to the paper in the doctor’s hands, but he glanced up at the doctor’s face every so often with a gentle smile on his face.

”So, there is some medical stuff I’d like us to talk about.” Tony said and gestured to the papers he had in his lap. ”I thought we could just get that out of the way, unless there is something else you’d like to do before that.” The doctor said and then gestured to Peter with his hand.

 “Yeah, that’s fine.” Peter said, bringing his legs up to cross them on the seat. At the back of his mind, there was a voice _screaming_  for Peter to bring up spanking again, but Peter ignored that voice entirely and kept his focus on the doctor in front of him.

”All right, so I’d like you to go through another medical exam. Get some blood work done and see how much weight you’ve gained and such. And nothing invasive. It would be more or less the same process like when you arrived here a week ago. How does that sound?” Tony asked. The medical exams were mandatory if the doctor ordered them and they would get the patients through them, but he doubted that Peter would put up a fight about it.

 “Yeah, that’s cool. When will it be?” Peter asked, gripping his ankles with his hands and rocking back and forth gently, as the boring nature of the medical talk got to him.

”I have scheduled it for tomorrow and one of the nurses will come fetch you.” Tony said before moving on. ”All right, then it’s your medication. Have you thought about it like I asked you to?”

 “Wow, you scheduled it without asking me first? How presumptuous.” Peter said jokingly, that same look of mischief in his eye. “Uhm... yeah, I thought about it. I feel better, I think. I don’t feel so... shit.”

”That’s good. Have you experienced any side effects?” Tony said, looking through the papers again as he talked.

 “Nnno, not that I’m aware of.” He said truthfully, watching Doctor Stark rifle through the papers. “Does that mean we’ll be keeping them the same, then?”

”I think so, yes. But, I still want to take a look at your bloodwork to be sure.” Tony nodded. ”Do you have anything else you’d like to ask about?”

 “Okey dokey.” Peter said, nodding slowly and gazing back down at his lap. “Questions about the medical stuff? No, not really, I’m alright for now.” He said, still rocking back and forth.

”Then I’ll just put these aside.” Tony said and got up from his seat to place the papers on his desk. ”So, how have you been, Peter?” The doctor asked once he was back in his seat and crossed his legs, resting his hands in his lap and his eyes on the boy

Peter watched the man move, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take his eyes away from the man’s broad shoulders, and how his lab coat hugged his muscles in just the right way. He instantly became flustered, and when Stark returned to his seat his gaze dropped back to his lap. “‘m fine. I, uh, I ate breakfast with Loki this morning. That was nice.” He said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck as he remembered how most of their conversation had revolves around the doctor sat in front of him.

”Tell me more.” Tony prompted, curious to know how Peter began forming relationships to others.

Peter just shrugged. “I dunno, I sat down with him and we talked about... stuff.” _How I practically begged you to think about spanking me_ , Peter thought to himself. He suddenly recalled the pornstar impression he’d put on when pretending to ask the doctor to spank him to Loki, and his cheeks burned. “Nothing too interesting, Doctor.”

 _Well, what about you begging me to spank you_ , Tony thought to himself and felt himself grow just a little warm at the memory of Peter’s high pitched voice that he had overheard. Just two more weeks. ”What about the friendship status? How is that developing with Loki?”

 “That’s... I dunno. He seemed a little bit down by the end of breakfast, so I invited him to my room but he never showed up. Rogers told me he went to see Doctor Banner. I felt... upset by it, cos I like talking to him a lot, but... I hope he’s okay.” He mumbled, twiddling his fingers. “He was teasing me during breakfast, though. That made me laugh.”

Tony nodded and listened carefully, making some mental notes on how Peter felt when Loki didn’t show. However, he couldn’t tell Peter about what was going on with Loki, even though he knew. ”Banner is taking care of him.” The doctor tried reassuring, but couldn’t say anything else. ”It sounds like you two are starting to become friends. Is that correct?”

Peter nodded, sighing a breath of relief when Stark said that Banner was taking care of Loki. “I... I think so. We share a similar sense of humour, so we’re always making each other laugh. I trust him too, with... stuff. So, yeah, I guess we are.” He mused, his gaze still on his lap.

”Similar sense of humour, that’s good.” Tony repeated and nodded before asking more. ”What kind of stuff?”

Peter’s eyes flickered up to Doctor Stark’s for a second, wide and slightly nervous as they held eye contact for a brief moment. He looked away a second later, clearing his throat. “Just... you know. Stuff. Crushes ‘n... other junk like that.” /Junk such as how you want to be bent over the doctor’s lap/, Peter’s thoughts helpfully filled in for him.

Tony had a feeling he knew what the boy meant, but there was no way he could ask about it. For a second he felt at loss for words and was suddenly transfixed with how the light from the window made Peter’s curls shine beautifully. ”What else did you talk about?”

“We talked about... the new nurse that joined today. I don’t think Loki’s met him yet, but I have. He seems nice, super big muscles and stuff...” he trailed off, remembering how Steve looked positively puny next to Thor, and how strong the man’s grip had been when Peter had shaken his hand. He shook his head and zoned back into the room. “He said his name was Thor. Cool name.”

”You seem to get along well with the nurses.” Tony pointed out. He had read plenty of reports on Peter’s behaviour from the nurses and other doctors. For the most part, it was all positive, which pleased the doctor.

“Yeah, they’re… they’re nice, I guess. I like Rogers and Barnes best, but don’t tell the others.” Peter said, giggling to himself. “They’re practically married, those two.” He hummed. He wondered if Stark knew that they were dating, and what he thought of it.

Tony chuckled, because Peter was right, but this wasn’t the time nor place to discuss the two nurses and their relationship as a couple. ”How would you describe your relationship to the staff here?” The doctor asked, steering the conversation back to Peter.

Peter thought for a moment. “It’s... it’s okay, I guess? I dunno.” He said, shrugging. “I don’t /hate/ them, but... I don’t exactly love them either.” _Unless they’re Doctor Stark_ , Peter thought, and instantly cringed at himself. Way to keep the whole “avoiding the crush” thing alive, Parker.

Tony noticed Peter’s short responses. He was avoiding something, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to get the boy to open up about it. At least not aged up. ”Do you want to draw some more while we talk?” The doctor suggested, hoping that would make Peter regress and open up more.

"Uhm... no thank you. I don't really feel like drawing." Peter mumbled, before pausing. "I wouldn't mind playing with some Lego though...?" He suggested timidly, and went to get the box after Doctor Stark nodded his approval. He brought it down to the floor by the chairs and sat on the floor, beginning to dig through the box in search of some pieces.

”Tell me more about what you and Loki have talked about together.” Tony prompted after a while of watching Peter gather some pieces of legos and get started on something.

Peter could already feel himself slipping into littlespace as he grabbed a few lego pieces, beginning to click them together and try to assemble something. "Okay, uhm... we talk about loads. He tells me about the book he's reading, 'n... I tell him about bird types, and... and sometimes we share secrets, but they're _secrets_  so... I've gotta keep quiet, you know?" He mumbled, though he didn't sound very convinced.

”Have you shared many secrets between the two of you?” Tony asked, hoping that Peter’s defenses would go down if he regressed.

"A couple. But... they're big ones. Crushes." He whispered, still working on constructing his lego creation. He stopped talking for a moment, lifting his creation to eye level so he could see its progress. "I'd tell you, but... you'd have to promise not to tell _anyone_."

Tony could have gone into doctor-patient confidentiality, but he doubted that would interest Peter in his little space. ”I promise, Peter, you can trust me with big secrets.” He said and tried to catch the boy’s eyes so that he could see that he was serious.

Peter looked up at the Doctor, his hand hovering above the box of Lego, before leaning forward with his pinky finger extended. “This... this is _super duper_  important, D-Daddy.” He said, the title finally pushing him into his headspace. “‘s gotta be a pinky promise.”

”I pinky promise.” Tony said with a smile, scooting forwards in his seat and offering the boy his pinky to make a deal.

Peter nodded when Doctor Stark linked pinkies with his own, shaking their hands about to emphasise the deal. “Okay. I guess... I guess I can tell you.” He took a deep breath. “Loki said he had a crush on a nurse in a different hospital, and I... I...”

Peter’s hands began to tremble slightly where he was clutching the Lego. “I like you.” He mumbled.

Peter had mumbled it, but still Tony had heard it and he felt his stomach drop. For the first time in his career as a psychiatrist, he was stunned into silence. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t experienced patients getting crushes on him and obsessing over him, but this time the attraction was mutual. And that terrified Tony.

Peter had been determinedly staring at his Lego car as he waited for Stark’s reaction, but when none came he looked up and straight at Stark’s face. The look in the doctor’s eyes was indescribable, and Peter was suddenly filled with a terrible fear that he had done something wrong. His bottom lip began to quiver, and as his fist clenched around his Lego creation, breaking a few pieces off, he began to cry.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck_ , Tony thought to himself as he saw how Peter’s bottom lip began to tremble. Before he could even think rationally, or professionally, he sprang out of his seat and went to embrace the crying boy tightly.

Peter certainly wasn’t expecting to be almost barrelled over and to have the air knocked out of his lungs with the speed at which Doctor Stark hugged him, but he found himself clinging onto him and wrapping his skinny arms around the man’s neck. “D-Daddy...” He hiccuped, before his gentle cries took over again.

Sitting on the floor so that his back was against the chair, Tony lifted Peter onto his lap and held him close. He had one hand around the boy’s waist, holding him tight, while the other was at the back of his head.”It’s okay, I got you, little one. Daddy’s got you.” He murmured, rocking Peter back and forth gently. He had never referred to himself as Daddy with a patient, ever, but now it just slipped out, but he didn’t care.

Peter whimpered, his body going lax to allow Doctor Stark to move his body the way he wanted. When he was properly in place, Peter’s arms went back around the doctor’s neck, gripping him tightly. “P-Please don’t be mad.” He mumbled, crying wetly into the crook of the man’s neck.

Tony frowned a little at Peter’s plea, but then he realised he hadn’t responded to his confession and cursed at himself. ”I’m not mad, little one, not at all. I like you too, Petey, I really do.” He said softly, still rocking the boy from side to side to sooth him and get him to calm down.

Peter gazed up at the Doctor, his eyes wide and innocent. “You really like me? And... and you promise you’re not mad?” He asked, leaning back so he could look the man in the face properly. His eyes were still brimming with tears, but he blinked them away hurriedly as they formed and clung to his eyelashes.

God, the tears in Peter’s lashes looked like pearls in the sunlight. He moved his hand from the back of the boy’s head so that both his hands were on his back. “Yes, I really like you and I promise that I’m not mad.” And he meant it with all his heart, which terrified the doctor, but before he could think he pulled the boy back to his chest and kissed his temple.

Peter gave the doctor a watery smile, but when the man kissed the side of his head, he froze. It was like his brain shut down and rebooted, and in that moment he felt like his heart was gonna burst. He soon recovered himself, and playfully pushed at the man’s forehead with his fingertips. “S-See what I mean? Biiig softie.” He said, giggling lightly.

”Yeah, yeah...” Tony chuckled, tilting his head to rest against Peter’s. He let out a quiet sigh. What the fuck was he doing? But he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.

They sat in silence for a little while, and Peter felt oddly grounded by the feeling of Doctor Stark’s head resting against his own. After a moment, he spoke. “Can you, uhm... do that thing where you... you pet my hair? Please?” He asked, squirming to get comfortable on the doctor’s lap.

When Peter spoke, Tony opened his eyes. He didn’t even notice that he had closed them. ”Of course, little one.” Tony smiled, lifting his hand up to the boy’s curls, running his fingers through them.

Peter shivered the second Doctor Stark began dragging his fingertips through his hair. He leaned upwards, desperate for the contact of the doctor’s nails against his scalp, and stretched out much like a cat would. Any second now, he would start purring. “‘s so good...” he murmured, his eyes fluttering shut.

Tony chuckled softly at Peter’s cat-like behaviour and used his nails to scratch at the boy’s scalp. ”Yeah, it’s so good...” The doctor agreed. To be honest, Tony enjoyed having the boy on his lap just as much as Peter seemed to enjoy the head scratches.

Peter smiled, opening his eyes and looking up at the Doctor. He lifted his hands to run them through Stark’s hair, giggling as he messed it up. He then trailed his hands down the man’s face to his beard and pet it with his fingers. After a few seconds, he quickly leaned in and pecked the man’s cheek, looking away bashfully.

When Peter’s soft lips touched his cheek, Tony felt like he was back at the beginning of his studies with no idea how to treat a patient professionally. Everything that he had learned and internalised to perfection went out the window and the doctor used the hand on the back of Peter’s head to bring him closer and kissed his cheek back.

Peter desperately wanted to kiss the man further, to be a little braver and let his lips inch towards the man’s mouth, but he resisted. He sighed contentedly, turning to reach for Spidey before realising- “Daddy, I... where’s Spidey?” He asked, realising that his stuffie was nowhere to be seen.

”Huh, Spidey’s gone?” Tony asked, sitting up a little with Peter still on his lap and peered over at the chair he was leaning against. ”There he is.” The doctor said, reaching up to get the stuffie and gave it to the boy.

 “Phew...” Peter took the stuffie from the man gratefully and cradled it to his chest, resting his chin on the fluff ball and combing his fingers through it. He looked up at the man with innocent eyes, and a part of him wanted more kisses.

”You okay now, little one? I’m sorry that I scared you just now.” Tony apologised, his hand still in the boy’s curls as he studied his facial expression closely for any other signs of distress.

Peter nodded mutely, his fingers still slowly rubbing circles into Spidey’s fur. He leaned up and pressed another quick kiss to Doctor Stark’s cheek, his own face blushing pink.

Tony hummed in content at the warm feeling of Peter’s face so close to his own, let alone his soft lips. To be honest, he never wanted to let the boy go from his embrace. ”You’re a good boy, Petey.” Tony mumbled, cradling Peter’s head in his hand.

Peter snuggled up as close as physically possible to his doctor, still hiding his blush poorly. “‘m Daddy’s good boy.” He corrected, his eyes fluttering shut once more.

”Yes.” Tony agreed, kissing the boy’s temple once more. ”You’re Daddy’s good boy.” He said quietly, resting his head against Peter’s as he continued to scratch at the boy’s scalp.

Peter shivered again when Doctor Stark’s fingertips scratched at his scalp, a whole body shiver that reached the tips of his toes. The soothing feeling of Stark’s fingertips running back and forth across his scalp made him slightly drowsy, and he leant his head down against the man’s chest as he tried his best not to doze off.

Tony just held the boy close, finding that the comfortable weight on his lap and against made him feel so at peace with himself. He knew he was doing something wrong, very wrong, but he wasn’t going to stop anytime when it felt so good.

Peter found himself dozing... off... to sleep... when he suddenly jolted awake again in the man’s arms. It was nothing unusual, sometimes he experienced that feeling of falling and suddenly waking up again, but in his littlespace it caught him completely off guard. He panicked, squirming on the man’s lap as his heartbeat quickened.

Tony jumped a little when Peter suddenly jerked in his lap. It was nothing unusual, but it seemed to frighten the boy while in his younger mindset, so the doctor comforted him right away. ”Hey, hey. It’s all right, Peter. You just woke up a little suddenly. You’re safe here, Daddy’s here.” He said gently, trying to catch the boy’s eyes to show him that everything was okay.

Peter was babbling a little bit under his breath as his heart pounded, and when he finally caught the doctor’s eyes, he slowed down. There was something intrinsically comforting about the man’s gaze, how deep and brown and perfect it was, and Peter couldn’t stop looking back. He huffed a few more breaths, all the while keeping eye contact with the doctor, before settling down slowly against the man’s chest. “Y-You always know what to say...” the boy mumbled, calming down slowly.

”That’s my job, little one.” Tony chuckled a little, rubbing the boy’s back while he calmed down. ”Daddy’s a professional.” The doctor said. However, he wasn’t entirely sure how true that statement was anymore. He had had some patients on his lap before, but he was always detached and clinical about the comfort he gave, unlike now with Peter.

Peter hummed, his heart rate returning to normal under the doctor’s soothing hands. He reached for Doctor Stark’s other hand, the one not stroking his back, and began fiddling with his fingers again. He took great comfort from holding the man’s hand like this, liked seeing how his own hand was so much smaller than the doctor’s and how his own were nothing but smooth skin while his Daddy’s were rough and calloused.

”What are you thinking about?” Tony prompted, seeing how his hand had caught Peter’s attention. He let the boy explore his hand, holding it up and keeping his fingers flexible so he could fiddle with them.

Peter shrugged. To be honest, his mind was completely fuzzy right now. Littlespace had a tendency to make him a little bit ditzy, and made him focus on feeling rather than thinking. “Nuthin’. ‘m just... thinkin’ bout Daddy.” He said quietly, still fiddling with the doctor’s hand.

”What about me?” Tony asked further, intertwining his fingers with Peter’s and squeezing gentle. The boy felt so delicate in his grip.

Peter shrugged again, but giggled at how Doctor Stark’s hand seemed to swamp his own, and how the squeeze sent vibrations up the boy’s arm. “Pretty...” he answered, not needing to specify what he was talking about. Every _part_  of the man was pretty, but Peter loved his eyes the most, and how laugh lines scored his cheeks every time he smiled.

A light pink coloured Tony’s cheeks at Peter’s comment. It wasn’t much, but still the doctor felt all warm inside and grinned bashfully. ”But you’re prettier.” He pointed out, tapping the boy’s nose for emphasis.

Peter grinned, squealing when Doctor Stark tapped his nose. Once again, he went and grabbed the Doctor’s finger and pretended to nibble on it. He never wanted to let the man go.

”You got me again?” Tony laughed when Peter went to grab his finger like an infant would. ”You gonna eat me, little one?” He grinned

Peter nodded, bringing the doctor’s finger to his mouth and putting his fingertips between his lips, letting it hang there. “Can’t eat all of you, Mr. Wolf, you’re too big!” He said, poking at the man’s shoulders.

”Too big, huh?” Tony laughed, letting the boy still toy with his hand. ”You on the other hand, you’re so cute I could eat you up like a little cupcake.” He cooed, lifting his leg up and down so that Peter bounced on his lap.

Peter squealed with laughter when he bounced on the man’s lap, his hands coming forward to grip his labcoat to steady himself. “‘m not /cute/!” He said, giggling with Doctor Stark’s fingers still hanging from his lips. He dared to move them in a little more, gently wrapping his soft pink lips around the man’s fingertips up to the top-most knuckle.

”Hungry, little boy...” Tony teased and bounced Peter again, chuckling at how he squealed in response. ”And yes, you are cute. Are you going to argue with Daddy?”

Peter gulped, the bob of his little adam’s apple clear as he gazed at the man with wide eyes. Those eyes then turned mischievous and his lips spread into a grin, even with Stark’s fingers in his mouth, and he nodded. “Uh huh. Daddy’s wrooooong!” He said, as if daring the man to snap.

”Is that so?” Tony grinned, his eyes narrowing when he looked at the boy closely. ”What about Mr Wolf? Is he wrong too?” The doctor asked, stepping into the wolf character now as he grinned and licked his lips

Peter’s eyes widened as Stark’s narrowed, but he stood his ground. “Y-Yeah! Wolfie’s wrong too! H-He ate Daddy, ‘n Daddy’s the pretty one!” He said, beginning to poke at the doctor’s stomach. “Y-You’ll never eat me!”

”That’s where you’re wrong, little one...” Tony purred with a grin still on his face. Placing both his hands on the boy’s waist, the doctor began tipping the boy back and forth so that he nearly fell over from his lap, but always pulled him back before he could. ”You’re so much prettier and tastier than the old Doc!”

Peter cried out in surprise when he was placed on the edge of the man’s lap, dangerously close to falling off, and tipped backwards. “No!” He said, trying to act scared but the intermittent giggling proving that it wasn’t genuine. “‘s not true, you’re lying! You... you...” On a particularly close tip backwards, Peter cried out in shock, but stayed determined. “You’re too much of a _scaredy cat_  to eat me!” He said suddenly, his face splitting into a grin.

After a bit of swaying back and forth, Tony pulled the boy up and held him steady so that they had eye contact. ”Scaredy cat, you say? What do big cats eat though? Do you know?” He asked, trying to keep his scarier face on and not grin, but it turned out to be hard considering how adorable Peter looked with his cheeks blushing red from laughing.

Peter held eye contact for as long as he could before the man’s intimidating, evil grin got to him and he had to look away. “N-No, what do... what do they eat?” He asked nervously, glancing down at where Doctor Stark’s hands were planted firmly on his waist.

”They eat...” Tony started, pulling the boy closer to that he could whisper in his ear. ”Pretty boys like you!” He growled quietly and bounced the boy on his lap again to get a scare out of him.

Peter squeaked with terror when he was suddenly bounced on the man’s lap, hiding his face so he could avoid Doctor Stark seeing the blush that was creeping up his cheeks. “D-Don’t eat me, wolfie, _please_! I’ll do anything!” He whimpered, glancing up to look the man in the eye.

”Anything?” Tony repeated, still bouncing Peter on his lap until he was laughing loudly. The doctor held the boy steady again and looked him in the eye, letting him catch his breath.

In his fit of giggles, Peter cried out, “Yes, anything!” He gasped for breath when Doctor Stark stopped bouncing him, and they were left looking each other in the face.

”Admit that you’re a pretty boy.” Tony said simply, holding Peter steady in his lap so that he couldn’t escape.

Peter held his breath, before determinedly shaking his head. “N-Never! I’ll never say that, ‘n you can’t _make_  me. So there.” He said resolutely, beginning to wriggle and squirm on the man’s lap to try and escape his grip.

”Admit that you’re a pretty boy.” Tony repeated and still kept a good grip on the boy so that he couldn’t escape from his lap. ”Admit it and I will let you go.” The doctor bargained.

Peter frowned exaggeratedly, sticking his tongue out at the man as he began to squirm determinedly on his lap, trying to get free. He realised that the man wasn’t gonna let him go, and so he stalled, huffing.

”Admit it...” Tony grinned, bouncing Peter on his lap again to encourage him to give in. ”And I’ll let you go.”

Peter whined, jutting his bottom lip out and holding eye contact with the man. “What if... I don’t _wanna_  be let go. Then I’ll stay here forever, and you can never leave!” The boy said, beginning to giggle again.

”I’m a busy doctor, Peter. I can’t stay here forever. So, I’m afraid you’ll just have to admit it. Or... I’ll make you do it!” Tony growled and tilting Peter over onto the carpet, he began tickling the boy’s ribs without holding back.

Peter squealed, his back hitting the carpet as Doctor Stark began to tickle him mercilessly. He writhed hopelessly as he tried to bat the doctor’s hand away to little effect. His laughter became more and more high pitched, and his cheeks went red as he struggled against the man’s tickling fingers.

”Admit it!” Tony laughed as he towered over the squirming boy on the floor. ”Admit that you’re pretty and I’ll stop.” The doctor explained with a raised voice to be heard over Peter’s loud squealing laughter.

 “Alright, alright! I-I admit it!” Peter cried finally, his laughter making it almost impossible to breathe. “I admit it! Now l-let me go!” He said, his tiny hands trying their best to grip the doctor’s wrists.

”You admit what?” Tony asked, grasping the boy’s hands in his and looking at him closely. Peter looked adorable like that, hair tousled, cheeks flushed and a smile on his lips.

 “That I’m... I’m...” Peter bit down on his lower lip, his eyes wide as Doctor Stark peered at him. “Th-That I’m pretty.” He mumbled quietly, the blush on his cheeks only getting darker and darker as he admitted it.

”That’s right. Well done, Peter.” Tony praised. He didn’t want Peter to become dependent on other people’s praise and wanted the boy to internalise some of it to improve his self esteem.

Peter smiled bashfully, sinking into his hoodie. He realised that the man was still towering over him and it made him a little breathless. “D-Do I still get to sit with you?” He asked, slightly out of breath from laughing.

”Sure you do.” Tony smiled and glanced up at the sofa. ”Shall we sit on the sofa instead? A little more comfortable than the floor.” The doctor chuckled and moved to get up, offering his hand to Peter.

Peter nodded, grasping Doctor Stark’s hand to pull himself up, and then immediately clambering onto the doctor’s lap before he had a chance to react.

”What do you think about your medical exam tomorrow?” Tony asked once Peter was in his lap again. He had already heard what the boy thought of it, but that was aged up and he wanted to hear if Peter had some feelings about it while little.

Peter hummed, thinking to himself. After a couple of seconds, he shrugged. “Daddy needs me to do it, so... I don’t mind. It won’t... hurt, will it?” He asked, sitting sideways on the man’s lap and swinging his dangling legs back and forth.

”No, it won’t hurt. It might pinch a little, but that’s only for a moment.” Tony assured, trying to keep Peter in the dark about the blood sample while he was regressed, but still more or less prepared for it.

 “Oh, okay...” Peter nodded, trying to prepare himself for it. “Can I play with Lego’s after?” He asked hopefully, looking up at the Doctor with huge puppy dog eyes.

”Yes, you can.” Tony smiled and bounced his leg to get Peter to cheer up. ”You got any other questions? Remember, no question is stupid, okay?” The doctor assured. Patients in age regression therapy were to an extent unpredictable. They could suddenly regress and become quite upset and frightened, which Tony wanted to avoid as much as possible from happening.

 “Hm...” Peter hummed, thinking it through. “No, I don’t think so.” He said, bringing his hands up to squish the man’s cheeks into a fish face. He had a very sudden overwhelming urge to kiss him right on the mouth, but instead he chose to lean in and press a peck to his nose.

Tony snorted when Peter squished his face in his hands, but fell silent when Peter kisses him again. This time, he recovered faster and squished Peter’s face back. ”Why, thank you. Aren’t you a sweet boy.” The doctor chuckled, shaking Peter’s head gently in his hands

Peter squealed again, quieter this time, when Doctor Stark grasped his head in his hands. “Wanna kiss Daddy all the time...” he mumbled, his eyes dropping down to the man’s lips, then down again to avoid Stark’s gaze. His blush began to come back, a dusting of pink across his cheeks as Stark shook his head in his hands.

Rarely did Tony choose to ignore a patient’s comment, but he chose to do it this time. He felt like he was saved by the clock when there was a knock at the door, which signalled that their session was over and Bucky stepped inside. Tony turned Peter’s head in his hands to face the nurse. ”Look? Isn’t he the cutest little thing?” Tony cooed, to which Bucky agreed with an ’aww’.

Peter’s eyes whipped up, and his face broke out into a grin when his head was turned to face the nurse. “Bucky!” He said brightly, though his cheeks were squished which muffled his voice a tiny bit. He waved in the nurses direction, before looking down and realising Spidey was on the floor. He made a whining noise and tried to make grabby hands in the stuffie’s direction, hoping that either Doctor Stark or Bucky would pick it up.

”Spidey is on the loose again? That’s the third time.” Bucky laughed and went to pick up the stuffie. In the meantime, Tony let go of Peter so that he was free to get off his lap. ”Third time? What’s that about Peter?” The doctor asked.

Peter hopped off the man’s lap, making more grabby hands in Spidey’s direction until he was handed back, and the boy cuddled him protectively to his chest. “Huh? Oh, he... he likes exploring. But only when ‘m asleep, he’ll sneak out of my bed ‘n go exploring the floor. And then when I wake up, he’s on the floor and I have to go ‘n get him.”

”I see. A spider who likes exploring.” Tony said and got up from the sofa, straightening his lab coat. ”You wanna hang out with Bucky for a while, Peter?” Tony asked as he saw that Peter still wasn’t entirely aged up to be by himself.

“Yeah!!” Peter nodded excitedly, beaming up at the nurse. “I met Thor today. He’s very big, bigger than Stevie!” He said, his eyes wide. “I bet he’s bigger than you too.” He added, poking at the nurses bicep.

”I’m afraid he is.” Bucky admitted with a frustrated groan. ”He’s nice though, right?” The nurse asked and also glanced over at Tony. ”I think he is very nice. What do you think, Peter?” The doctor asked.

Peter snorted at the nurse’s frustration, continuing to poke his bicep until the doctor asked him a question and he dropped his hand, distracted. “Yeah, he’s cool. I wanna ask Loki what /he/ thinks, he hasn’t met him yet I don’t think...” Peter said, pursing his lips in thought. “Are you gonna do my medical exam tomorrow, Buck?”

”I’ll be there to help out, yes, but the Doc here will do most of the work.” Bucky said and gestured to Tony. ”You nervous or what?” The nurse asked

"Me? Nervous? As _if_ , Buck." Peter said, puffing his chest out like a big boy. "'m not scared of _anything_." He added, looking back at the doctor momentarily as if he was trying to impress the man, before turning back to the nurse. "'m big."

”Well, that’s good to hear.” Bucky said with a smile and ruffled the boy’s curls. ”It is still okay to be a little nervous, but Stark’s a good doctor and he’ll take care of you, right?” Bucky asked and Tony felt himself grow a little hot when he suddenly realised that Peter could tell the rest of the staff what they had done together during their session.

"Right! Daddy always takes care of me." He nodded, looking back again and smiling widely at the doctor, completely missing how Stark seemed to shift about where he stood like he was distracted by something.

”That I do!” The doctor chuckled, trying his hardest to not appear nervous. Tony cursed at Bucky in his mind for coming in before he could tell Peter to be quiet about how intimate they had been during their session. He hoped to God that Peter would keep his mouth shut till their second session later in the day.

Peter turned back to the nurse, grinning again and completely missing Doctor Stark's nervous response. "What're we gonna do now then, Buck?" He asked, swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet as he held Spidey tight to his chest.

”How about a walk outside?” Bucky suggested and went to head out the door with Peter trailing after him. ”I’ll see you later, Peter.” Tony said and waved the boy goodbye as he left with the nurse.

"Bye, wolfie!" Peter waved back as he left the office behind Bucky. As they walked through the corridors in the direction of the courtyard, Peter was initially silent, but then spoke up. "Where's Loki?" He asked, curious as Steve had given him a vague answer before his session with Stark.

”He’s with Banner.” Bucky answered shortly. The raven-haired boy was having a really rough day and in need of 24/7 monitoring, so Peter would not be seeing him for a while. ”Oh, the sun’s out.” The nurse said with a smile as he headed outside and held the door open for Peter.

Peter frowned, shuffling to catch up with the nurse when he pushed the door open. "Is he okay? Why's he with Banner? What's going on?" He prodded further, trying to figure out what had happened to his friend.

”He’s being taken care of, that’s all I can tell you I’m afraid.” Bucky said simply and tried to distract Peter. ”Have you started on that bird journal yet?”

Peter pouted, but didn't say anything about Loki otherwise. He let out a groan of frustration. "The _journal_! I forgot about that..." He whined, his bottom lip sticking out even more than before. As they continued to talk, he gradually forgot about his conversation with Doctor Stark, and focused on enjoying the sunshine.


	25. 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things progress. quickly.

For the first time in his career, Tony was nervous for a session. He found himself pacing in his office and checked his watch multiple times while he waited for Steve to bring Peter to his office. Finally, there was a knock at the door and the nurse entered with Peter by his side.

Peter was in the middle of telling Steve about the bird he had seen out in the courtyard when he had been with Bucky, when they entered the office and saw Stark stood at the other end of the room. "I'll tell you about it later, Stevie." He said, waving at the nurse before he was left alone in the office with the doctor. He went and took a seat on one of the chairs without Stark offering, becoming so used to it that it was second nature to him now.

 _Okay, here we go_ , Tony thought to himself as he moved to sit opposite Peter. He started with the usual worn-out, but nonetheless important, question. ”How have you been today?”

Peter shrugged. "'m fine. Me 'n Bucky walked around the courtyard, and we saw a goldfinch. Then I went back to my room 'n then Stevie brought me back here." He said, bringing his legs up to cross them on the seat.

”What did you and Bucky talk about?” Tony prompted and tried to hide his anxiety. He really hoped the boy hadn’t taken about their session and how intimate they had been.

"I tried to get him to tell me about Loki, but... he wouldn't say anything." He grumbled, rolling his eyes at how Bucky had so easily side-stepped his questioning. "And then we sat on the benches for a bit, and he tried to help me set up a bird-watching journal, so I can keep track of the birds I see 'n stuff."

”That sounds fun. Have you written any entries yet?” Tony asked and felt himself calm down a little while they talked about mundane stuff.

"Yeah! When Bucky gave it to me, we wrote down the goldfinch that we saw on that tree in the middle of the courtyard, the big oak one? I was thinkin' I'll write every bird I see, but... I see a lot of pigeons." He said, huffing a laugh and pulling his legs up the seat closer to himself.

”How do you write all the entires?” Tony asked further, curious to hear how organised Peter was with this little project of his. He made a mental note to ask about it in the future, if he was still allowed to work as a psychiatrist in the future.

"I dunno, just... species of bird, time I saw it, where I saw it. Simple stuff like that." He shrugged, picking the loose threads in his sweatpants. "I'll probably change it as time goes on, you know?"

Tony nodded in agreement. ”It sounds like a fun project. Something to keep your mind occupied. Some patients find that it can be dull to stay here at times.” The doctor explained.

Peter snorted. “You got that right. Can’t even listen to music in here, since Steve took my phone...” he grumbled, reminded darkly of how he had pleaded to keep it for music purposes, but had to grit his teeth and hand it over anyway. He missed listening to Two Door Cinema Club.

”You will get phone privileges tomorrow.” Tony pointed out, but didn’t add any threats about taking those privileges away if Peter was not well-behaved. He figured that the boy wouldn’t repeat the stunt of breaking into a doctor’s office again.

Peter immediately perked up at that. “I-I will? You mean it?” He said, his eyes widening and his face splitting into a grin. He was gonna get to call Aunt May! He was so excited, if he was a dog his tail would’ve been wagging like crazy by now. He wiggled his toes excitedly and sat up a little straighter in the chair, thinking about what he’d say to May when he spoke to her.

”I do.” Tony nodded with a smile when he saw an opportunity. It wasn’t ethical, not in the least, but the other option would have to be to refer Peter to someone else, but he knew that would only end in disaster. ”However, there is one condition.” The doctor began and paused a little to get all of Peter’s attention.

“A condition? Sure, what’s the condition?” Peter asked, a smile still on his face from the good news. He was almost bouncing in the arm chair, and he continued to fiddle with his sweatpants and the hems of his sleeves.

Tony took a moment to try and find the right words, then sighed and started talking. ”You cannot tell your aunt, or anyone else, what we have been doing during these sessions.” The doctor explained. It was an outrageous condition and one that Tony had no right to make, but he could not see any other way to save his own career and possibility to care for Peter and his fragile state of both mind and body.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wh-What do you mean? We haven’t... we just play with Lego’s and draw stuff, that’s not... that’s not that bad, is it?” He asked, but the grim look on Stark’s face suddenly made something click. Oh. Peter said nothing more, but his facial expression hardened and the grin dropped from his face.

The professional part of him wanted to ask Peter what he was thinking about, but some other part of him got a sudden urge to put the boy into his place and make sure he never spoke what their sessions to anyone. ”It is not bad, it is simply confidential and you cannot speak of this to anyone.”

“N-No.” Peter said, his emotions finally catching up with him. “That’s not- that’s not what it is at all. Y-You don’t give a sh- _shit_  about ‘confidentiality’. You... You j-just don’t wanna lose your job. Y-You care more about your f-fucking job then me. You never cared about me, did you?” He said, his voice steadily getting louder, but becoming more unsteady in tone as he became more upset.

”Peter, it’s all right.” Tony said calmly before he began defending himself. ”I do care about my job and I do care about you, but if I lose my job, I cannot care for you. Do you understand that? That is why you cannot tell anyone about this.” The doctor argued.

 “N-No! You... If you care about someone, you a-aren’t afraid to say it. And... and you’re making it sound like we f-f- _fucked_  or something! I-I wanna be able to say that you’ve made me better, b-but if y-you don’t want me to, then fine. I don’t g-give a fuck.” He said, standing up from his chair and barely resisting the temptation to go to the door and slam it on the way out.

Seeing how Peter was growing rapidly upset, Tony raised his hands to try and get him to calm down. ”Peter, sit down and lets talk about it. We can work this out together.” Tony didn’t even know what he was saying at this point and found that he was very conflicted within himself.

 “NO!” Peter cried, shaking his head furiously. “I-I’m tired of this! P-P-People always do this! They just g-get _bored_  of me, and th-then I’m too overbearing to be around, so t-they leave me behind! I-I’m _done_.” He sobbed, tears quickly forming before he swiftly turned on the balls of his feet and headed for the door, slamming it on the way out. He continued to speed-walk back to his room, where he closed the door a little softer this time, and immediately headed for his bed, collapsing onto it.

Tony jumped up from his chair when Peter ran out of his office and for a second, he considered running after the boy, but decided against it. Instead, he began pacing his office once more and muttered to himself. ”Fuck, fuck, fuck. _Fuck!_ ” He was practically already without a job.

Both the facility and common sense said that Tony should alert the nurses so that someone could keep an eye on Peter, because the boy seemed to be close to a panic attack. At the same time, there was a possibility that Peter would tell on him and his unprofessional behaviour and unethical methods. ”I’m fucked either way...” Tony muttered to himself and alerted Thor to go tend to Peter. He might be done and over with, but he couldn’t bear to pull Peter down with him.

Peter buried his face into his pillow and finally began to cry properly, his tears soaking through the pillow cover. His hearing was a little fuzzy, but he was pretty sure he could hear someone faintly calling his name. “F-Fuck off!” He yelled in response, muffled by the pillow he was sticking his face into. He cried until he couldn’t breathe, then cried some more.

He had expected the owner of the distant voice to have left, so when a hand rested on his back between his shoulder blades he instantly flinched, scrambling up the bed to get away from the mystery person. He turned, eyes red and furious, only to see the ocean blue eyes of Thor, the newest nurse. He huffed, before pathetically throwing his pillow in the nurses direction. It hit Thor, but not nearly enough to hurt. “What part of “Fuck off” don’t you understand...?”

Thor didn’t flinch when he was hit with the pillow, but put it back on the bed calmly. ”It’s all right, buddy, it’s all right. Tell me what’s got you so upset.” The nurse prompted gently.

 “No.” Peter said bluntly, taking the pillow back and clutching to it, before rolling onto his side facing the wall. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He said, before adding “I’m not _allowed_  to talk about it.” in a mocking, jeering tone to himself. “Just leave me alone, Thor.” He said, falling silent after that.

Thor didn’t say anything either, but remained where he was sat on the side of Peter’s bed. The boy’s doctor had told him to keep an eye on him, so that was what he was going to do.

Peter teared up and cried once more, his shoulders shaking as he did so, before quietening down again. After a while, exhaustion set in and he fell asleep, still clutching the pillow in his arms. In his sleep, the pained expression drained from his face and he was left almost serene.

Thor sat by Peter’s side until he heard that his breathing became heavier and deeper. ”Peter?” The nurse said quietly, just to be sure he was asleep before gently moving him onto his back so that he was more comfortable. Thor also tucked him in under his covers and then moved out of the room quietly.

\---

Peter awoke the next morning, the sunrise casting long beams of light through his window. He looked about when he awoke, noticing that Thor wasn’t around anymore, and sighed. At the thought of what happened yesterday evening, Peter felt almost sick.

It was almost breakfast time and along with Steve, Thor went around the south wing and collected some patients. He also went to Peter’s door and knocked gently before entering. ”Buddy, you up?”

 “Yeah, yeah...” Peter grumbled, throwing the blankets off of him and padding across the room to get his Velcro sneakers. He didn’t even wait for the nurse before he left for the canteen, he just wanted to get in and out of there as quickly as possible. When he got his food, he headed for the empty table in the corner, keeping his head down and his shoulder hunched.

After watching Peter and the other patients eat for a whole, Steve turned to Thor by his side. ”Peter doesn’t look good at all.” Steve pointed out before he added. ”What did Tony tell you again?”

”Just to keep an eye on him, that’s all he said.” Thor said before he straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall. ”I’ll go over and ask the kid.” The new nurse said before approaching Peter where he sat by himself eating.

The combination of being upset with Doctor Stark and the fact that Loki wasn’t going to be around for breakfast made Peter’s mood plummet. He poked and prodded at his food, but ultimately took big bites so that he could leave quickly. When he saw Thor approaching, he rolled his eyes and hunched over his plate. “Leave me _alone_ , Thor.”

”Morning, sunshine.” Thor chuckled as he moved to sit across from Peter. ”How are you doing?” The nurse asked with some concern in his voice and showing on his face.

“What’s it to you?” Peter muttered, shoving more food into his mouth in the hope of ending the conversation. Or, at the very least, having food in his mouth meant he couldn’t reply to Thor’s stupid questions. “I’m fine. I don’t wanna talk to you.”

”That’s all right, but I’ll just sit here with you.” Thor said and then fell silent. Sometimes conversation wasn’t necessary and what the patients simply needed was someone to be there with them and that was precisely what Thor was going to do.

Peter sighed. This nurse was even dumber than the other ones. After a couple of minutes, he spoke again. “I-I appreciate what you’re doing, but... it’s not helping. Can I be left alone please?” He asked, most of the anger drained from his voice to leave him sad and exhausted.

”I’m afraid I can’t leave you, kiddo. You have your medical exam with Doctor Stark once you’re done eating and I will bring you there.” Thor explained and hoped that once they were alone in the exam room, he could get to the bottom of Peter’s blue mood.

Peter groaned, dropping his head onto the table. After a second, though, he lifted his head with confusion. “I thought Bucky was gonna help me with the exam today?” He asked, his brow furrowed and his hand loosely gripping his cereal spoon.

”He got preoccupied with another patient, so you’re stuck with me for today.” Thor said with a smile. ”Finish up your food and then we can get it done and over with.” The nurse chirped and gestured to Peter’s breakfast.

 “Fine, fine...” Peter mumbled, and got back to eating. It only took him a few more minutes before he was finished, and he showed Thor his empty bowl before he got up to put his tray away. As they were leaving the canteen, Peter made quick eye contact with Steve and smiled weakly, then following Thor to the medical ward.

”So, we’ll start with a blood sample and check your weight, all right?.” Thor explained as they walked through the halls and using his keycard, he let them into the medical ward and lead Peter to one of the exam rooms. ”And when we have done that, Stark should be here to do the rest.”

Peter nodded absentmindedly as he followed the nurse into the exam room, but at the thought of a blood sample, he grimaced. “I hate needles...” He shuddered, looking around the exam room. It looked like a regular doctor’s office, with a surface to lie down on in one corner, and the doctor’s desk and chair in the other. He hopped up on the makeshift bed, waiting for Thor to get the supplies.

”Same here, kiddo.” Thor chuckled and went to gather the supplies to take the sample. ”But I promise I’ll be gentle.” The nurse promised with a smile and snapped on some gloves before moving to stand in front of Peter. ”Which arm?” He said and held up the rubber band.

“Uh... Right?” Peter said, holding out his right arm with the inside of his elbow showing. He swung his legs back and forth on the bed as Thor prepared his arm. “So, uh... Thor? That’s a cool name. Does it mean anything, or...?” He said, trying to calm himself down.

”Right it is then.” The nurse tightened the rubbed arm around the boy’s upper right arm and tapped the vein on the crook of his elbow to get it to pop nicely. ”Thanks, yeah, it comes from old Norse. It means thunder.” Thor explained and cleaned the skin with an alcohol pad before picking up the needle. ”Slight pinch now.” He warned.

Peter nodded, an impressed look on his face, but then he froze. Thunder. What did... what did Loki say about his old nurse? Thunder... tall... blond hair, blue eyes... muscles... Holy shit. Peter’s eyes widened comically as he stared Thor in the face. This was the nurse that Loki was talking about! He barely registered the needle going into his arm, his mind was so all over the place. Fuck, he had to find Loki after this and tell him, Loki was gonna lose his fucking _mind_.

Thor worked swiftly and got the two vials filled up before he pulled the needle out gently. ”There, just hold that up for a bit.” The nurse instructed and placed a cotton ball on the tiny puncture wound, guiding Peter’s arm up and bending his elbow.

Peter felt a little woozy when Thor pulled the needle out, but took the cotton ball and held it to his arm obligingly. He sat silently, his mind racing with how he had connected the dots and related Thor back to the nurse that Loki had a crush on. When Thor spoke again, Peter missed it entirely. “Huh?”

”I asked, are you okay?” Thor said with a smile. The boy didn’t seem pale or shaky, but more like he was somewhere else. ”You can sit for a while if you need to.” The nurse explained and began labelling the vials with Peter’s blood to be sent to the lab.

 “Oh, yeah, yeah... I’m fine, just a little distracted.” He said, gazing around the room dazedly. He looked back at the nurse, who was labelling his blood, and pulled a face when he saw the crimson vials. “What else do I have to do? Weigh myself?”

”Yeah, that’s next.” Thor said and pulled his gloves off and threw them in the trash along with the used needle and such. ”So, you’ll have to undress for that. I’ll get you a gown, hold on.” The nurse said and searched through some of the cupboards while muttering to himself.” Ah! Here we go. You can change behind the screen there.” Thor instructed and handed over the gown before gesturing to the screen in the corner of the exam room.

 “A _gown_? I’m not a princess, thunder thighs.” He said, the corner of his lips pulling up into a smirk at the nickname he came up with for Thor. He took the hospital gown without complaint and went behind the screen to change into it. When he came out, he huffed. “I look ridiculous.” He said, trying to stifle his laughter at his own perceived image in the gown.

”You look just fine.” Thor assured, but tried not to laugh at the adorable look on Peter’s face. ”It’s just for a while, anyway so hop on.” The nurse chirped and gestured to the scale next to the examination bed.

Peter stepped onto the scale, wobbling a little bit from the wooziness of having his blood taken, but otherwise standing straight. He looked down at the scale, then back up at Thor, who was also staring intently at the values of the scale.

Once the number stopped flickering, Thor nodded and noted down it down in Peter’s file which he had in his hands. ”119.3. That’s a good gain.” The nurse said with a smile before lowering his gaze to Peter’s file and reading it briefly. ”While we are at it, lets check your height too.” Thor said and pointed over to a spot on the wall with measurements along it.

Peter nodded and followed the man’s finger over to the wall with the height measurements on it. He stood with his back to the wall, straightening his posture as best he could and putting the heels of his feet against the wall too. He waited patiently while Thor measured him, humming under his breath.

”Lets see, lets see...” Thor hummed to himself as he got the measurement. ”5’6''. Good, good.” The nurse said and moved to note the height in the boy’s file too. Then there was a knock at the door and Tony entered.

Peter made a joke of trying to tiptoe to reach a taller height, a grin on his face. When the doctor entered though, Peter immediately dropped back to his original height and his face went back to a grimace. He looked away from the Doctor entirely, his fists clenching and unclenching by his side. He made no attempt to greet him.

”Odinson.” Tony greeted simply and look Peter’s file from the nurses hands and moved to stand by the desk.

”Doc.” Thor greeted back and made a puzzled expression at the sudden tension in the room. Peter looked very uncomfortable where he stood.

”You got the blood sample?” Tony asked, still reading Peter’s file.

”Yeah, yeah. Weight and height is all noted in the file. Shall I stay and assist?” Thor asked, but Tony shook his head.

”No, that will be all. Thank you.” The doctor said and gave the nurse a tight smile. Thor picked up the vials of blood and left quietly with a little goodbye wave to Peter.

Fuck. For the first time, Peter actually _wanted_  the nurse to stay with him. His hands trembled by his side, but he held a hardened expression as he stared at the floor. He only lifted his gaze to wave back at Thor, but otherwise continued avoiding the doctor’s gaze. His breathing was becoming quicker, but he tried to steady it as best he could.

Once Thor left them alone, Tony moved so that his back was to Peter. He knew what he was going to say, he had practiced it all morning and with a heavy sigh, he rubbed at his temples and he turned around to face Peter. ”I-... Christ...” Tony cursed as he couldn’t remember anything that he had planned to say and just looked at the boy in front of him.

Peter had never seen the doctor so emotional before. Carefully, he moved so that he was sat back on the examination bed, knowing that if he didn’t there was every chance his knees would give in. He watched the doctor carefully, and immediately he could feel his own eyes tearing up. “Fuck...” he swore at himself, clumsily wiping at his face.

”Peter...” Tony said, his voice barely above a whisper and he walked over to Peter to hold him, but stopped by the exam table. ”I-I don’t know what to say... I’ve never felt this way before. I always know what to say, but with you, I just...” Tony tried his hardest to explain, but all his attention was on Peter and how vulnerable and small he looked like this.

Peter could see how much this was tearing Doctor Stark up, it was as clear as day. He gulped, before getting up off the table and gazing up at the man. “Then don’t say anything.” He murmured, his cold expression melting every second he gazed at Stark’s somber face. Before he knew what he was doing, he was pulling Stark back towards the table to close the difference and then hopping up onto it so he was a little taller. He took a deep, shaky breath, before tugging on the doctor’s tie and pulling him in...

The kiss was soft, chaste, and a little clumsy as Peter’s lips tried their best to fit against Stark’s.

”Peter-” But before Tony could protest, he felt Peter’s soft lips against his own and froze where he stood. The boy was inexperienced, that was obvious, but that only made the doctor hunger for him more. Cupping Peter’s cheeks in his hands, Tony began dominating the boy’s mouth, tilting his head to get a better angle. Once he was low on air, Tony pulled away a bit to look at Peter with wide eyes.

Peter could sense Doctor Stark beginning to take control of the kiss, and he let him do so gladly. He followed unspoken directions, opening his mouth a little wider and tilting his head back. The hopeless romantic side of him wanted to live in this moment forever, and so when the doctor pulled back, he whined. “P-Please, Tony, I...” he couldn’t think of what to say, he just wanted _more_.

Smirking at Peter, Tony stroked the boy’s cheekbones with his thumbs. ”That’s 'Doctor Stark' to you.” Tony corrected before he moved to kiss the boy again. He felt so free like this, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he never wanted to let Peter go from his sight ever again.

Peter _whimpered_  when Doctor Stark said that. A full body shiver went through him, and he gladly parted his lips again to let the man kiss him. His hands gripped at the doctor’s lab-coat, and his head was spinning with thousands of thoughts at once. When they separated for air again, Peter was still reeling over the casual dominant comment that Stark had said.

”Peter, I-” Tony tried again, but still could not find the right words, or any words for that matter. He was transfixed with the boy in front of him and how he seemed to have specks of yellow in his brown irises.

Peter shook his head. “Don’t talk. Don’t... don’t talk.” He said, leaning back in to kiss the doctor again. He pulled the man closer by the lapels of his labcoat, where his hands were screwed up in the fabric, and gripped onto him tightly. He got a little bit more confident as they kissed, but still craved Stark to take control and take the lead. “D-Daddy, please...” he whined, not caring that he was beginning to sound like the pornstar he had taken the piss out of a few days ago.

”Daddy’s got you...” Tony confirmed in a mutter against Peter’s lips before he kissed him again. He moved his hands from Peter’s cheeks to pull the boy closer with a hand on his lower back and the other on the back of his neck.

Peter let out a choked gasp, unable to stop his hips suddenly bucking forward when Doctor Stark referred to himself as Daddy in such a low, gravelly tone. He whined again, lifting his legs to wrap them around the man’s waist while Peter was sat on the examination table. His eyes fluttered shut and remained closed as the doctor kissed him, and he tried his best to not seem so desperate that he would rut against him.

Tony held the boy steady in his arms and kissed him hungrily, sucking the boy’s bottom lip between his own and biting it gently. However, when he moved to grab the boy’s forearms, Peter yelped and Tony pulled away. ”You okay?” He asked quietly. ”Was that too much?”

Peter was so caught up in the way they kissed like the tide, but when Doctor Stark took hold of his elbows, he yelped and pulled back. “N-No, I’m fine, it’s just... th-the blood test wound, it’s right there.” He said, pointing down to his right elbow where Stark had tried to pull him closer. He didn’t dare mention the fact that this turn of events was his first kiss. That could be admitted later.

”Oh, sorry, baby boy.” Tony apologised, not even realising the nickname that he had uttered before it was too late. ”Didn’t Thor get you a bandaid for that?” The doctor asked as he inspected the tiny puncture wound before going to a cupboard to fetch a bandaid. ”There.” Tony said and fastened the bandaid over the tiny wound gently before lifting his arm up and kissing it softly.

Peter scoffed lightly, but his heart melted when Stark kissed the wound. “Softie...” he muttered fondly, looking down at the floor for a moment. “‘m sorry for... for getting mad at you. You didn’t deserve it.” He said, his expression clearly apologetic with his puppy dog eyes showing.

”No, no. You had every right to get angry at me.” Tony sighed where he stood in front of Peter on the exam table. ”Okay, so... Jesus, how do I say this? I, uhm... I have been unprofessional, lets put it simply and I should refer you to someone else.” Tony said and lifted a finger to add before Peter could protest. ”But, I don’t want to. I want to be your doctor, Peter.”

Peter opened his mouth to express his outrage, but faltered when Stark lifted his finger. He watched the man with wary eyes, his chest heaving with breaths that he had lost while he was kissing the doctor. "So... what does that mean? Do we... Can we not do this any more?" He asked, already feeling himself becoming upset at the prospect. He didn't want to lose him.

Tony shook his head. ”We can, if you want to. It’s all up to you.” The doctor explained while looking the boy in the eyes. ”But, if you want to continue to be my patient, you cannot tell anyone what we have been doing. This...” Tony said and gestured to what they had just done. ”What we just did. If anyone finds out about it, I could lose my job.”

Peter bit his bottom lip as he thought about it, but ultimately nodded. "Okay. I won't tell." He said quietly, offering up his pinky finger to seal the deal. "I don't wanna stop doing this. With you."

Tony’s face split into a grin and he sighed and chuckled relief. He held out his pinky and sealed the deal with a shake. ”Me neither.” The doctor admitted and lifted his hand to stroke at the boy’s cheek lovingly while gazing into his eyes. Peter really did have some specks of yellow in his eyes. ”Me neither.”

Peter blushed a rosy pink colour, and he couldn’t suppress the sweet smile that grew on his face when he looked back at the doctor. “I, uhm… I really wanna keep kissing you, but… should we not be doing the medical exam?” He asked with a snort, looking around the room then back at Stark.

”Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” Tony said and straightened up with a half smirk, but kept his eyes still on Peter. ”You are probably getting a little cold in that gown.” He chuckled as he went to grab the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope from the desk.

Peter squeaked in surprise when he realised he was still wearing the gown, and instantly tried to shield himself from the man’s gaze. He looked ridiculous in it. “S-Stop teasing me!” He said shrilly, sticking his tongue out at the doctor when he laughed at him.

”You look cute, Peter.” Tony teased with a laugh as he wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Peter’s left upper arm. ”Maybe you should wear this all the time?” The doctor suggested with a cheeky grin and placed the stethoscope if his ears before placing the chest piece in the crook of Peter’s elbow and began pumping the cuff.

Peter rolled his eyes and huffed. “You’re lucky I like you, otherwise I’d get mad at you for that.” He said, lifting up his arm to help the doctor out. As his blood pressure was tested, his eyes wandered around the room and he zoned out. He wondered how Loki was doing.

”Sure, sure.” Tony laughed. Once he got a measurement and good listen, he tugged the cuff off, but kept the stethoscope in his ears. ”BP’s good. Deep breaths for me now.” The doctor instructed and placed the chestpiece of the stethoscope of Peter’s chest.

Peter nodded, and began to breathe in deeply. However, when the chestpiece touched his chest, Peter immediately squealed. “Shit! Cold, cold, cold, cold!” He gasped, the metal piece of the stethoscope clearly colder than he expected. He wouldn’t be surprised if Stark thought he had some kind of heart problem, the way his heart was pounding from having the man sat so close to him.

”Sorry, sorry.” Tony winced in sympathy, but continued to get the exam over with swiftly. Once he had listened to his back too, Tony placed the stethoscope around his neck. ”Sounds good. Follow my finger now.” Tony instructed and held up a finger in front of Peter and moved it from side to side.

Peter followed the finger in front of his face with his eyes, but soon was getting bored. "I still don't see a point to this bit." He said, but otherwise didn't complain. "Are we done now? I wanna play with Legos." He huffed, clearly beginning to slip into littlespace.

”There’s a point to all of this, Peter.” Tony said with a little frown, but soon smiled instead and pulled out the penlight from his breast pocket. ”Say ‘ahh’.” The doctor instructed and got a quick peak into the boy’s throat before putting his penlight back. ”Okay, last bit now. Lay back for me.”

Peter opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, making an exaggerated "ahh" sound until Stark moved his penlight away. He furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of having to lie down, and after a moment of hesitation he did so, shuffling to adjust his gown when he laid back on the bed.

Once Peter was laying back, Tony moved his hands to palpate his abdomen. ”How much did Thor say that you weighed?” The doctor asked while he felt around for anything swollen or abnormal.

"Uhm... 119.3" Peter replied, racking his brain for a moment to remember what Thor had told him. The prodding into his abdomen made him squirm again, and he giggled at the sensation. "Tickles..." he mumbled. It seemed that everything tickled him.

Tony got very tempted to tickle the boy, but he chose not to and pulled back once he was done with the exam. ”There, we’re done. You can get dressed again.” Tony announced and went over to scribble down some notes in Peter’s file.

“Finally… I was gettin’ sick of this dumb gown.” He said, rolling off of the examination bed. He made sure the doctor’s back was turned before he tried to get dressed, but ducked behind the screen just in case. He came back out in his hoodie and sweatpants, and was putting his Velcro sneakers back on when Doctor Stark was done writing.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s hatred for the gown and sat down by the desk to fill out the paperwork for the exam. Once Peter was dressed again, he closed the file and spun in the chair to face the boy with a smile. ”Actually, I think the gown suited you better.” The doctor pointed out with a grin.

Peter rolled his eyes exasperatedly, but the amused grin couldn’t be ignored. “You ass.” He mumbled. “Are we done? Can I… Can I sit with you?” He asked, staying right where he was. He knew they’d just been kissing but he didn’t know what Stark wanted at this point in time, so he simply swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet.

They had all the time and privacy they needed in the exam room, so Tony nodded and gestured for the boy to come sit on his lap. Once Peter was sat comfortably, Tony lifted a hand to cradle the boy’s head and kissed his cheek. ”Yes, we are all done now and you did great. Overall, you seem healthy and you are gaining weight, which is really good.” The doctor explained with a smile on his lips.

Peter grinned, immediately heading over to sit on the man’s lap. He swung his legs over so that he was sat sideways, and snuggled up as close to the man as possible with his head resting against Stark’s shoulder. “Thanks…” he mumbled contentedly, his hands fiddling with themselves in his lap. He returned the kiss to Stark’s cheek gingerly, desperately wanting to turn his head and kiss him on the mouth properly.

Tony hummed in content at the feeling of Peter’s lips on his cheeks and turned his head to kiss the boy properly. ”I have to check your bloodwork when it comes back, but I doubt it will show anything abnormal.” The doctor explained before kissing the boy again.

"Cool..." Peter mumbled against the man's lips, trying to him until he couldn't breathe. "Do that... that thing you did. Where you... p-pulled on my lip." He pleaded, his eyes falling shut and his head in the clouds as they kissed.

”You liked that, baby?” Tony purred and let his eyes fall shut too as he guided the boy back to his lips with a hand on the back of his neck. The doctor kissed the boy a few times before he nudged the boy’s lips further apart. Taking Peter’s bottom lip between his own lips, he sucked gently before giving a tiny bite.

Peter whimpered at the pet name, shifting on the man’s lap to hide his developing erection and to get more comfortable. When Stark bit down on his lip, he shivered before hungrily kissing the man back. He pulled back and rested his forehead against the doctor’s for a moment, catching his breath. “Daddy…!” He gasped, his eyes still shut.

Tony tilted his head back to give the boy better access to his neck and sighed in content again. ”Yeah, this is good. You’re a good boy.” The doctor said quietly before grasping the boy’s chin to get his lips back on his own.

Peter smiled against the man's neck, planting wet kisses against the column of Stark's throat, before he was pulled back up to kiss the man's lips. His hands soon moved from his crotch and went to Stark's labcoat again, holding him as an anchor to ground himself before the genuine euphoria of kissing him made him float off into the sky.


	26. 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki reunite again, and peter gets a phone call.

The next session reminded Tony of when Peter had first come under his care, in that there was very little talking. Instead, they kissed passionately and hungrily on the sofa. Tony would often whisper little praises and call Peter by nicknames, causing the boy to blush and giggle brightly. Eventually, their session came to an end and Tony made sure to straighten himself up before one of the nurses came to fetch Peter so that they would not suspect anything. ”Remember what I said, Peter.” The doctor said, tidying Peter’s messy curls to the best of his ability.

Peter nodded, trying to steady his breathing so that it didn’t look suspicious to those who came by. When Bucky came by to pick him up, Peter only waved a goodbye to the doctor, but couldn’t hide the guilty smile on his face before he left. As he and Bucky made his way down the corridor, Peter had a sudden thought. “Hey, uhm… how’s Loki doing?” He asked, not quite sure of what the answer would be since the staff had previously been very vague about the whereabouts of his friend.

”Still being taken care of by Banner.” Bucky said again and didn’t explain further as he escorted Peter through the halls and back to the areas where the patients were allowed to be by themselves. ”So, don’t you worry, buddy.” Bucky said and left Peter once they were by the south wing. Further down the hall, a door opened and a doctor stepped out before walking by Peter, giving him a friendly smile.

Peter frowned again. He hated how all of the staff here seemed to be keeping him in the dark, he just wanted to know how Loki was. Right on cue, a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see a doctor leaving a nearby office. He squinted, reading “Bruce Banner” on the man’s nametag, and his heart pounded. “Banner!” He exclaimed, running to catch up with him. “I’m Peter? I, uh… I was wondering how Loki was doing. I haven’t… haven’t seen him in a while.” 

Banner looked up from the file in his hands and took his reading glasses off to look at the boy in front of him. ”Peter, right, right. Loki’s mentioned you.” The doctor said, but just like any other staff member, he kept information about other patients brief and simple.

“Yeah, yeah… Is he okay? I…” Peter wanted to say that he missed him, but he didn’t know how Banner would respond to that. “Can I see him, maybe?” He asked hopefully, pulling his best puppy dog eyes expression. Loki had pointed out his puppy eyes way back when, and Peter had found that using them in conversation often got him what he wanted.

Banner considered it for a while and hummed. ”I guess you could. Loki’s been asking about you too.” _And he never asks for anyone_ , Banner thought to himself before gesturing for the boy to follow him down the hall.

Peter grinned widely at that, following the doctor down the hall. Banner seemed quiet, he thought to himself, not like Doctor Stark. He wondered what Banner was like during age regression therapy, but he was distracted from that train of thought as he was brought to a medical ward. The door was pushed open, and Peter’s eyes fell to Loki, who was currently lying in a hospital bed, reading a book. “Greaseball!”

Loki dropped his book into his lap and turned to look at Peter who dashed over to him. ”Hi...” He said, growing shy all of a sudden, but very happy to see Peter. ”What- what are you doing here?” He asked a little dumbly and looked at Banner who also walked over.

Peter grabbed a chair and hauled it over to the side of the bed, sitting in it with his legs crossed. “Banner said I could come see you! I kept asking where you were, but the nurses were refusing to tell me, and then I saw Banner and I asked him and he said it was cool that I could come by!” He rambled, almost vibrating with excitement on the chair. “Lo, I have so much to tell you, it’s actually _nuts_.”

Banner smiled as he watched Loki’s face light up when Peter was talking. Perhaps Loki should spend more time with Peter, he thought before leaving the ward quietly to let the two patients catch up. ”Like what?” Loki asked with a wide smile and sat up a little on the bed.

Peter carefully watched Banner leave before he spoke, not wanting to embarrass Loki by blatantly talking about his crush in front of a member of staff. “Okay, okay, okay…” Peter was so excited he could’ve been bouncing off the walls. “So you know how ages ago, you said that you liked this nurse from a different hospital? Tall, blond hair, sounds like thunder?” Peter then paused for dramatic effect. “Does the name _Thor_  sound familiar to you?” He said, unable to keep the shit-eating grin off his face.

Loki’s eyes widen comedically at the mentioned name and his jaw fell open, until he recovered enough to ask more. ”Yeah, yeah... That’s him. How- how did you find out? I-” The boy stuttered out as he tried to understand, but only grew flustered and blushed.

“He works here now.” Peter said, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin as he watched those words sink in to the boy sat opposite him. “He works here, and I met him. He did part of my medical exam this morning. It was 100% him, Lo, he fits your description! I first met him a couple of days ago, and I was gonna try and find you to get your opinion, but you were in here. But yeah, that’s something to look forward to when you get out.” He laughed.

”No, no, no!” Loki groaned out with a laugh. ”You’re fucking kidding! I’m- oh, my God... I’m never leaving the ward!” The boy joked and covered his face as he blushed more and more.

Peter burst into giggles, poking at the boy’s arm. “Nooo, you _have_  to see him! And you gotta make sure I’m there, with the camera, so that I can record it and then I’ll have something to tease _you_  about forever and ever.” He teased, his grin so wide that it was spread from ear to ear.

”Noooo...” Loki moaned out and sank lower in his bed, trying to make himself smaller and hide away. ”Fuck... He’s really here.” The boy muttered to himself, moving his hands to show his eyes, but still held onto his cheeks in disbelief.

 “I’m kidding, Lo, don’t worry. I won’t make fun of you... when he’s around.” Peter said, teasing him a little more before sitting back in the chair. He didn’t know whether asking what happened to the boy would be a good idea, so they sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

”My heart’s still pounding. Am I having a heart attack?” Loki asked after a while, a hand on his chest and a weird expression on his face until he suddenly turned more serious. ”Is he more muscly now?”

Peter grinned. “I mean, I dunno how muscly he was before, but... let’s just say that Rogers and Barnes look _skinny_  stood next to him. He’s built like a wall, dude, he nearly broke my hand when he shook it to greet me.” He snorted, remembering their first encounter.

”Yeah, he is...” Loki said a little quietly, his gaze fixed on his hands in his lap and he fiddled with the IV needle in his hand. ”I- I remember when he first carried me... Or actually not that much because I was mostly unconscious but... Well, he told me about it afterwards.” Loki said with a little smile and flickered his gaze over to Peter before returning it to his lap. Taking a deep breath, the boy started telling. ”I was going through a rough bit and I wasn’t eating or drinking. I tricked the staff to think I did, but then something happened, can’t remember what exactly, but I ran from one of the doctors and bumped into Thor. I stumbled a little, huge guy you know, and then I became really dizzy before everything went black. I woke up in Thor’s arms as he carried me to the medical wing and I have never felt so at... peace? I think that’s what it was. I was like a feather, just floating around...” Loki said and trailed off as he looked at his hands.

Peter listened quietly, a sympathetic look on his face as he watched Loki intently. When the boy stopped talking, he inched forward in his seat to take his hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of it soothingly. “I get that. You trusted him, right? After that moment?” He asked, his voice as gentle and encouraging as he could make it without sounding patronising.

Loki scoffed a little, but didn’t pull his hand back. ”Started to, I guess... I was still weary of them all, but Thor was nice. He- he never pushed me into talking, he just sat with me and... I liked that, I guess.” The boy shrugged and flickered his gaze up to meet Peter’s again shyly.

Peter nodded. “Oh, yeah... he did that with me this morning during breakfast. I didn’t really want him to, I was upset about something and tried to tell him to piss off, but he just stayed sat where he was. I can see why it would be nice.” He hummed, meeting Loki’s gaze with his own and offering a warm smile, before pulling his hand away.

”What were you upset about?” Loki asked, seeing an opportunity to get the attention away from himself. He’d much rather talk about others than himself. The boy sat up a little, crossing his legs into a lotus position on his bed.

Peter suddenly froze. Shit. How was he gonna explain this? He couldn’t tell _anyone_ , he’d promised Stark that much. He took a breath. “Oh, it was... it was nothing, I’m fine now.” He said, brushing the question off as casually as possible. He couldn’t break the promise he had made to the doctor, even though he _desperately_  wanted to tell Loki the events of the day.

”Come on, sunshine.” Loki teased and clenched his hand into a fist to shove at Peter’s cheek gently. ”You’re a terrible liar. What were you upset about?”

 _Shit_. What the fuck was he gonna do now? Peter followed the action of Loki’s fist pressing into his cheek, making an exaggerated sound effect and dramatically collapsing against the boy’s bed to make it look like he had just been knocked out in slow motion. “It was just something stupid to do with Stark. I’m fine now, honest.” He said, his voice muffled by how his head was turned into the bedsheets.

”Did you kiss his nose again?” Loki teased, poking at Peter’s cheek while he still lay with his head on the bed. ”Or did he kiss your nose for a change?” The boy laughed.

 _No, actually we spent our entire session just now making out and he had his hands on my waist under my shirt and it was so disorientating I couldn’t breathe._  “Haha, very funny greaseball. No, I didn’t. As if I would get upset if he did that.” Peter said, lifting his head up to rest it on his hand. He looked up at the boy, making dumb faces in his direction to get him to laugh again.

Loki shoved at Peter’s cheek again when he made the dumb faces. ”I know what you’re doing, puppy eyes. You’re trying to distract me, but I know that you’re hiding something...” The boy said and narrowed his eyes at Peter.

 “Hey!” Peter said, rolling away to avoid Loki’s prodding fingers. When the boy said that Peter might be hiding something, he froze, before immediately bursting into nervous laughter. “Me? Hiding something? No way, dude, it’s impossible to hide stuff in this place.” He tried his best to derail the train of thought, but Loki didn’t look too convinced.

Loki was about to snap back at Peter, but then there was a knock at the door and Thor walked in. Loki froze in an instant and watched with wide eyes as the nurse walked over. ”I thought Loki Laufeyson sounded like a familiar name.” Thor said with a wide smile as he stopped by Loki’s bedside next to Peter on the chair.

Peter picked his head up when the door opened, and the feeling of seeing Thor walk in was hard to describe. It was a mix of shock, euphoria and sympathy for Loki, but then he turned to see the other boy’s reaction and he nearly burst out laughing. “Hey Thor!” Peter said brightly, much too brightly for it to be anything but mocking. “Me and Loki were just talking about y-“ He felt a hand slap over his mouth and his voice was immediately muffled, glaring at Loki who had instantly silenced him with his hand over his face. He fell silent, even with Loki’s hand over his mouth, but couldn’t resist glancing at him to see what he would do next.

”Shut. Up.” Loki threatened sharply before removing his hand. Shyly, he looked up at the nurse. ”Hi, Thor...” ”Hey, Loki. I want to say that I’m happy to see you again, but at the same time I’m not you know?” The nurse chuckled and patted the boy’s shoulder before checking his monitors. ”We gotta stop meeting like this.” Thor said and Loki nodded without saying a word.

Peter gulped. He didn’t realise that Loki could be so threatening in so few words. He nodded, keeping his mouth shut through the rest of the conversation. He could see how Loki physically relaxed when Thor was around, even if he didn’t talk much to the nurse. It was nice, he thought to himself, and found himself picking at his sweatpants again, like listening to their conversation was some kind of invasion of privacy.

Thor found Loki’s stats to be good looking, but didn’t carry out any further investigations with Peter still present. ”Peter, I’m gonna have to ask you to return to the main areas. Loki needs his rest, but you’ll see him soon, yeah?” The nurse explained. Loki shrugged a little at Peter and chewed on his bottom lip to hide his shy smile.

 “Huh? Oh, o-okay. Yeah, I can do that.” Peter said, standing up from his chair at Loki’s bedside. “I’ll see you around, Lo.” He said fondly, waving and subtly winking at the boy before turning and leaving the medical ward. He wandered down the corridors for a little while, and his mind kept coming back to how suspicious Loki had been of Peter’s lying. He had to get better at lying.

Seeing Peter walking in the corridors of the main areas, Steve called out to the boy and came over to him. ”Hey, bud. Thought I lost you for a bit there. Did you stay a bit behind with Stark?” The nurse asked.

Peter was completely lost in his own thoughts when he heard Steve calling his name. He turned to see him approaching and waited patiently for the nurse to catch up. “No, actually I found Doctor Banner and he let me visit Loki for a little bit.” He said, stifling a giggle at how Loki’s face had dropped when he heard that Thor now worked here.

”I see. You two aren’t planning any more mischief, are you?” Steve said teasingly, elbowing the boy, but not hard enough to hurt him. ”But anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you got phone privileges today. Would you like to use it?” The nurse asked. He had a strong feeling that the boy would want to use it, so he had his phone in his pocket already, but still he had to ask about it explicitly.

Peter snorted at that. “No, he’s bedridden right now and I kinda need him up and about if we’re gonna cause any trouble. I can’t do it by myself, we’re like... the Weasley twins.” He said, laughing when Steve elbowed him in the arm. “Oh, yeah, my phone! Yeah, I’d like to, please.” He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly.

Steve didn’t add anything to what Peter said about Loki being bedridden, but focused on the phone privileges instead. ”Okay, then. Lets head to your room and you’ll get your phone.” As they began walking towards the south wing where Peter’s room was, the nurse reminded the boy of the rules. ”You’ll get your phone for an hour and you can do whatever you want during that time, except for take pictures. You also cannot mention the names of any other patients here nor staff members if you are going to post something on social media.”

 “Okay, sounds fine.” Peter nodded, following the man back to his room. When they got there, he went to sit on his bed and held his hands out for his phone, making puppy dog eyes unnecessarily before the device was put in his hands by a chuckling Steve. Instantly he called May, holding the phone up to his ear and waiting. “May? It’s Peter!”

”Oh, hello, baby!” May gasped in disbelief and relief of hearing his nephew’s voice again after nearly ten days. ”Are you okay? What’s been going on?” The woman asked hastily, anxious to hear how he was doing.

 “I’m okay, I’m okay! I’m fine. They had me in the medical ward for two days, and I was hooked up to all these machines and these wires ‘n stuff, but then they said I was well enough to get my own room after two days.” He hummed, thinking of what to say next. “It’s not so bad here, the staff are alright.” He said, then adding in a stage whisper: “I’m only saying that cos one of the nurses is looking at me!”

The mention of the medical ward only made May more anxious, but she sighed a little in relief once Peter continued. With a chuckle, Steve tapped his watch and mouthed to Peter, ” _An hour._ ” before he moved to leave the room and closed the door so Peter could have some privacy. ”I see, baby, but tell me more. Have you been eating and taking your meds?” May asked.

Peter nodded wordlessly to the nurse as he left, then zoned back in to what May was saying. “Yeah, I have. They make sure I take them every day, so... The food here isn’t great, but it’s edible. And I’ve, uhm, I’ve made a friend.” He said quietly, thinking back to when he first sat with Loki in the canteen.

”That’s good, baby.” May sighed, but then gasped at the mention of a friend and squealed with excitement. ”A _friend_! Tell me, Peter!” She prompted.

Peter held the phone away from his ear when May squealed, laughing when she did so. “Jeez, May, you tryin’ to burst my eardrum? His name’s Loki, and he’s around my age. He, uhm, he’s kinda difficult with the staff, he doesn’t like it here, but he likes me. We spent ages in my room the other day talking, he’s super funny and he lets me braid his hair.” He said, smiling fondly at how Loki had leaned against him to allow him to braid his hair.

”Aw, that’s great, baby. So, you’re not, like, alone there?” She asked, chewing on her lip anxiously. ”Do you have any idea if I could visit you? That Stark doctor didn’t tell me much after I dropped you off.”

 “No, I have Loki. And the staff are nice, so...” he said, gazing out of the window as he spoke. “Uhm... I don’t know, but I have my session with Stark later today so I can ask him then.” He said, cradling the phone to his ear and moving to sit on the windowsill.

”Do that, yeah.” May agreed and nodded along. ”How is it going with Stark? Like, is it, or he, or whatever helping?”

Peter hummed. “Yeah, it is. He’s really good, but he’s really... clinical. I guess it’s to stay professional.” He said, thinking back to how Stark had held him down on his lap and kissed him until he was breathless. “I’m getting better, May, don’t worry.”

”That’s good to hear, baby.” May sighed with a smile. ”I was growing quite worried here. Oh! Ned and MJ have been dropping by and asking about you. They seemed worried.”

 “They have?” Peter said, unable to stop the grin spreading on his face. “Are they okay? Wait, I can just call them after this. I miss them a lot, I speak about you guys in the sessions sometimes.” He said, picking at his sweatpants as the sun shone through the window.

"They're okay, baby. They keep saying something about a biology project, and how you're lucky you don't get to do it?" May said. "I'm glad you're alright, Peter. You would have to be under Doctor Stark's care, right? He's quite the looker."

 “Hah! Yeah, Mr. Anderson can suck it.” Peter grinned, thinking about how Ned and MJ must be suffering in his class right this second. At the mention of Stark’s appearance, Peter blushed profusely, and was only glad that this was a voice call. “Y-Yeah, he’s... he’s not, uhm, not bad looking.” Fucks sake, Peter, way to act natural. “I don’t really think about him that... that way.”

”Of course not! I mean, he’s your doctor. That would be weird, yeah, yeah.” May laughed. She didn’t mention how she had got a letter from the school that if Peter was to miss more classes, he would have to take a year over again to graduate. She figured that the boy had enough to worry about already.

“Yeah, my doctor...” God, May would kill him if she found out what they were actually doing in his sessions. Even just thinking about it made him grow hot under the collar. “How’s, uhm, hows work?” He asked, desperate to get the conversation off how attractive his doctor was. He knew that if they talked about it any longer, he would get dangerously close to admitting what had happened over the last few days.

”Oh, busy as always.” May said and glanced at her watch. ”You got perfect timing though and caught me on a break. But, yeah, busy, busy. Oh! What was the name of that psychiatrist you didn’t go to?”

 “Oh, that’s good. At least you’re on your break.” Peter hummed. “The psychiatrist? Oh, Doctor... Doctor Strange?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing. Why would she care about Strange?

”Yes, that’s him! I worked with him last night on a case. He was quite good actually. And nice.” May added before asking. ”Baby, to be honest, I don’t quite understand why you didn’t want to see him. Wasn’t he nice to you? Cause I’ll slap him across his high cheekbones if he wasn’t next time I see him.”

Peter winced when May started talking about Strange. He was about to defend himself, when the comment about his cheekbones made him snort and dissolve into giggles. “No, no, May, don’t slap him! He was nice, he... it’s just hard to rebuild trust with an entirely new person so quickly, you know? I just... I liked Stark more.” He said, trying his best to sound casual and not disgustingly sappy.

The sound of Peter laughing made May feel at ease and she relaxed her shoulders, which had been tense every since she left him at the facility. ”Okay, baby. I won’t.” She promised with a little chuckle before falling silent. After a moment, she spoke again. ”Will you be okay, Peter?”

 “Hm? Yeah, I’ll be fine. I know you’re worried, May, but I’ll be alright.” He said softly, looking back out the window to see that Steve was currently sat on a bench in the courtyard with a female patient he didn’t recognise. He shrugged to himself, then turned back around. “I feel like if I wasn’t, you would be able to sense it, like a sixth sense or something. You’d come rampaging through the facility to find me.” He snorted.

May snorted as well and lifted her hand up to silence her laughs. ”That’s true.” She sighed as she calmed down again. ”Yeah, you’ll be all right, baby.” Glancing down at her watch, May groaned and got up from her chair. ”Shoot, baby, I’m so sorry, but I have to get back to work now.”

 “Oh, o-okay.” Peter nodded, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He didn’t want May to leave, not so soon after they had started their conversation, but he’d just have to deal with it. “Have a good shift, May, I’ll try ‘n find out if you can come visit soon.” He said, trying his best to keep the sadness out of his voice.

”Thank you and yes, do that. I’ll see you soon, baby, yeah? I love you.” May said and made some kissing noises through the phone.

Peter groaned in fond exasperation, rolling his eyes. "Maaaaay! God, you're so embarrassing. I love you too." He said, indulging her enough to make one kiss noise through the phone before she hung up. When the line went dead, he sighed, staring down at his phone.  He knew that Ned was probably still in a class right now, but… it didn’t hurt to try calling him. He found Ned’s contact and pressed dial, holding the phone up to his ear and waiting patiently.

 “Come on, come _on_...” Peter pleaded at the phone as it rang, and rang, and rang. Finally, someone picked up, and he could hear shuffling about and some closing of doors before he heard Ned’s voice.

”Oh, shit.” Ned gasped quietly, his eyes wide and staring at his phone disbelief which says that Peter is calling him. Lying that he has to go to the bathroom, Ned slipped out of class and went to the stairway before answering his phone. ”Peter, oh my God! Is that really you?”

 “Yeah! Ned, it’s me! I’ve got phone privileges for a bit, so I thought I’d call. Are you okay?” He asked, his heart swelling in his chest just from hearing his best friends voice.

”Me? No, no, no. Are you okay? We haven’t heard from you in like weeks! You aunt said that you’re at a psych ward. Is that true?” Ned began rambling and bombarding his friend with questions from how excited he was to hear from Peter again after such a long time.

 “Hey, hey, slow down! Leeds, you’re gonna swallow your tongue if you don’t slow your roll.” Peter laughed, instantly feeling a weight off of his chest. “I’m... I’m better than I was. And yeah, I’m in a psych ward. It’s not like... Arkham Asylum or anything, don’t worry. I’m only gonna be here a couple of weeks, and then I’ll be back.” He said. “Has anyone noticed I’m gone?” He asked softly, expecting the answer to be “no”.

”Yeah! I mean, you have been gone for like almost two months now, so people are asking about you. Some of the teachers too.” Ned explained. ”But, what are they doing to you in there? Why haven’t you called me nor MJ back?”

 “Oh... I wasn’t expecting that. I’m, uh, I’m getting therapy ‘n stuff. I was all messed up when they first brought me in, I had to be strapped up to all these machines and weird fluid bags ‘n stuff. I would’ve called you sooner, but they don’t allow phones in here unless it’s at a specific time. I see a dude called Doctor Stark twice a day, and...” Peter paused. “Dude, this Doctor is... he’s so hot. Like, fuck, he’s hot. That’s not important though.”

”Right, right.” Ned huffed as Peter explained his lack of communication. ”Wait, what? Stark? Isn’t he like a really famous psychiatrist? I think Mr Peterson recommended some of his research as extra reading for psych class.”

“Famous? I dunno anything about him being famous. He’s never mentioned it. I mean, he’s not the type to brag about that kind of stuff, but still...” Peter fell quiet, thinking to himself. “He studied with a guy called Stephen Strange, is he famous too? Cos if so, that guy works here as well.”

”Yeah, yeah! His paper I’ve definietly read. I have no life.” Ned laughed. ”I think they’ve done some research together as well. But anyway, are they like pumping you full of drugs there?” The boy joked before turning more serious. ”Because you sound... happier. You sound better, Peter.”

 “Them? Research _together_? No way, dude, they’d rip each other’s heads off. One time I managed to get Stark to do something just by implying that Strange would be better than him at it.” He snorted, thinking about how Stark had grumbled under his breath but had drawn the perfect leopard picture that was now stuck above his bed. “Drugs? Just four different types.” He joked back, laughing. “I’m... yeah, I feel better. I guess I have Stark to thank for that.”

”Dude, you have no idea what you’ve been missing out on, though!” Ned suddenly said with excitement, but before he could tell much he was busted by a teacher. ”Oh, shit, I’m getting detention. I’ll talk to you later, Peter!” The boy said hastily before the line went dead.

Peter sat up on the window sill, ready to hear all about what was happening at school, when suddenly Ned was saying goodbye and the line went dead. He sighed, leaning so that the back of his head hit the wall and he stared up at the ceiling. “Great...” he mumbled, looking back down at the phone which was now on his lock screen, a picture of Peter, Ned and MJ all making goofy faces in a photo-booth. With not much else to do, he unlocked his phone and went to his music player, putting on some Tame Impala and letting his eyes shut.

Checking his watch, Steve saw that Peter’s phone privilege time was almost up and began making his way to the boy’s room. ”Kiddo?” The nurse called out and knocked on Peter’s door before entering.

Peter didn’t respond to the knock on the door, nor the calling out of the nurse as he entered. He had fallen asleep listening to his music, his head tilted to rest against the window and his hand relaxed against his phone as he breathed gently through his nose. His mouth was open just a little bit, where exhales whistled through his teeth, and his body was still curled up with his knees to his chest.

Steve couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight of Peter sleeping on the windowsill. However, the position looked uncomfortable and pocketing Peter’s phone along with his earphones, he picked the boy up bridal style. The nurse lay Peter down on his bed, pulling the covers over him before exiting the room quietly.


	27. 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter shares more trauma.

Peter awoke around half an hour later, and flinched when he noticed he wasn’t where he had fallen asleep. It took him a couple of seconds to realise that someone must’ve moved him. When he went to check whether his phone was still with him and found nothing, he groaned, letting his head fall back against his pillow. With not much else to do, he decided to go back to sleep, hoping to get more rest before his second session with Stark.

After receiving a message from Stark that he was ready to see Peter, Thor went to the boy's room to fetch him. "Kid? You up?" Thor said gently as he entered Peter's room and found him sleeping on his bed. "Peter, wakey, wakey." The nurse said with a chuckle and shook the boy's shoulder.

 “Huh? Wha...?” Peter woke up slowly, his hair stuck up in all directions and Spidey clutched loosely in his arms. “What’s goin’ on? Is it my session?” He asked, rolling out of bed and putting on his Velcro sneakers. He grabbed his stuffie from the bed and held him under one arm. “‘m ready, let’s go.” He nodded, currently uncaring that he had a bad case of bedhead even though his nap had only been for an hour.

Thor ruffled the boy's messy curls when he moved past him in the doorway. "Lets go." The nurse repeated and escorted the boy to Stark's office and left him by the door. "I'll come pick you up later, then." Thor said with a smile and headed down the hall to tend to other patients.

Peter nodded dazedly at the nurse, before knocking on the doctor’s door and letting himself in. He was careful to shut the door behind him, and his heart swelled when he saw Stark sat at his desk, typing something up onto the computer. Even just seeing the man do something so uninteresting was enough to make him flustered, and he cleared his throat to announce his arrival. “Hey, S-Stark.” He said, smiling genuinely.

 _Hey, Daddy_ , Tony corrected in his mind as he watched Peter enter his office. ”I’m done in just a moment, Peter.” Tony said and brought his attention back to the email he was typing, even though he would much rather study Peter’s sleep tousled curls all day. Maybe even run his fingers through them, like he did yesterday.

Peter huffed at that. Bit by bit he inched forward until he was stood right next to the doctor, before swinging his leg over the doctor’s lap and sitting down, burying his head into the man’s chest. “‘s _my_  turn for attention.” He said, almost blocking Stark’s view of the computer screen entirely.

”Peter-” Tony was about to warn, but was left speechless when the boy settled onto his lap and without thinking about it, the doctor moved his hands to hold Peter. ”I said, just a moment.” Tony tried to say sternly, but couldn’t resist kissing the boy when he looked so adorable in his lap, literally begging for attention. Pulling back a little after the kiss, Tony patted the boy’s back and gestured to the chairs with his head. ”Go on, I’ll be right over.”

Peter grinned smugly when the doctor kissed him, but the grin dropped when he was shunted from Stark’s lap. “Ugh... you’re no fun.” He said, rolling his eyes and getting up off the man’s lap to move to one of the chairs in his office. He took a seat, sitting in a lotus position with his hands bunched up in sweater paws as he waited for Doctor Stark to finish.

Finishing the email and sending it off as swiftly as he could, Tony locked his computer and got out of his chair and into the one in front of Peter. ”You have all my attention now.” The doctor said with a smile.

 “Fiiiiinally...” He drawled, rolling his eyes and slumping his shoulders. “Took you long enough.” He tried to act annoyed, but the mischief in his eyes was too obvious to miss. He stretched out where he sat, sticking his arms up above his head so that his hoodie rode up ever so slightly to show a small sliver of porcelain skin. It wasn’t intentional, but if Stark spotted it then Peter wasn’t complaining.

Tony smirked at Peter’s cute attempt to seem annoyed. ”So, how have you been?” The doctor started with the usual question once the boy had stretched out. Tony couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten Peter in just a playful and teasing mood.

 “‘m good! I got to see Loki, aaand I got to call May and Ned! And now I get to see you.” He said, that last bit a little quieter as a blush already began creeping up his cheeks.

Tony smiled at how Peter mentioned him, but didn’t ask about it. They might have agreed on an untraditional doctor-patient relationship, but Tony still very much wanted the focus to be on the boy’s recovery during their sessions. ”How did it go with Loki?”

 “It was good! Loki seems a bit better, I was telling him about Thor cos he hasn’t met him yet.” Peter didn’t mention how Loki had a crush on the nurse, or that they already knew each other. “And then I got phone privileges so I spent some time in my room talking to May, and to Ned.”

Tony nodded when Peter talked about Loki and made a note on how the two of them could possibly have therapy together. He would have to discuss that with Banner later. ”What did you talk about with May?” The doctor asked.

Peter leaned back in his chair, bringing his knees up to his chest. “We couldn’t talk long, she was at work on a break, but... she asked how I was, and she was excited that I made a friend here, and... she said she’d worked with Strange the other day, which was a weird coincidence. But yeah, we couldn’t talk for very long before she had to go.”

”That is a weird coincidence.” Tony agreed, but did not add more about Strange’s schedule, which he did know about. He wanted the focus to be on Peter. ”How did it feel to talk to her?” Tony asked further.

 “It was nice. I... I missed her voice. She sounded worried when she first picked up but then I think she was okay by the end of it. I just wish the call was a little bit longer than it was. Oh! That reminds me, May wanted to know if there was a possibility that she could come and visit at some point?” Peter asked, his eyes wide and hopeful.

Tony debated Peter’s wish in his head quickly. The boy was looking considerably better than when he was admitted for the second time. He had gained weight, taken his medication as well as opened up during the sessions. The only downside was May’s worry and Tony saw the possibility of how her worry might weigh on Peter too much. Perhaps even cause him to pretend to be better than he is to please his aunt. Still, Tony had already broken enough facility rules and he wasn’t going to break even more by denying Peter the right to see his family. ”Yes, I think we can arrange that.”

Peter waited with bated breath, and immediately let out a squeal of joy when Stark said that May could come visit. “Yes! Thank you so much!” He grinned, vibrating on the seat with excited energy. He wiggled his toes and gave Stark a big toothy grin, before eventually settling down, though he still seemed to be bouncing on the chair.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s gleeful reaction to his decision. ”Tell me more about what you two talked about.” The doctor prompted.

 “Uhm...” Peter hummed, trying to remember what they had talked about. “She was just making sure I was okay and stuff, which I said I was. Oh, and... she said you were handsome.” He giggled, hiding his laughs with the back of his hand. “I didn’t say anything in response, though.”

”That’s good.” Tony smiled a little, but directed the conversation back to Peter again. ”Does she often make sure you are okay?”

 “Yeah. She worries a lot, you know? With everything that happened...” he trailed off, looking a little lost, but quickly regained himself. “She looks after me, ‘n I look after her, you know? And I know that if I wasn’t okay here, she’d sense it, come bulldozing through to find me.” He snorted.

”What do you mean with everything that happened?” Tony dug deeper and ignored Peter’s attempt at making jokes. The doctor saw it as a sign that Peter was avoiding telling him something.

 “Just... you know, the stuff with... with my parents, ‘n Uncle Ben, it’s just... we’re all we’ve got. Gotta stick together.” Peter said, his good mood slowly seeping out of him to be replaced with a somber quietness.

”You’ve told me about Ben, but what about your parents? Tell me more about them.” Tony prompted and continued to listen actively. He had a feeling that what Peter was going to say next was very important.

 “I...” Peter took a deep breath before he spoke. “They, uhm, they died in a plane crash. When I was six. I had to be looked after by my aunt and uncle, until... you know. And so now it’s just me and May.” He said, biting down on his lower lip. He wished he had never said anything.

At the relevation of Peter’s parents sudden death, Tony felt his jaw clench and heart begin to race. He had heard so many horrible and outright tragic lifestories from patients, but while hearing this one, the doctor had to use all his strength to stop himself from springing up from his seat and embrace the boy to shield him from the unfairness of the world.

 “I dunno why it’s hard for me to talk about. Like... I was only a kid when they died, I can only remember parts of being with them and stuff. Most of my memories are of Ben and May, but...” Peter shrugged, clearly getting a little uncomfortable with talking about it, but talking nonetheless.

Tony nodded along as he listened and kept a neutral expression on his face, despite all the emotions he was feeling himself. ”What do you remember of them?”

 “Uh... not much, if I’m honest. I think I remember my dad teaching me how to ride a bike, but I wasn’t very good at it. Oh, I remember them taking me to a swimming pool once, and I would just... refuse to put my head under the water. We were at some, like, holiday place and the swimming pool had this underwater bit where there were fish tanks _inside the walls_  and if you put goggles on and went under, you could see the fish. That was the only way they convinced me to swim with my whole head underwater.” He rambled, laughing a little at the memory.

”That sounds like a nice memory.” Tony pointed out with a little smile, but didn’t try to be overly cheerful so that Peter would continue telling about his parents.

Peter hummed, but didn’t say anything. Despite his best efforts, he could feel himself tearing up, and he sniffed hastily as he tried to wipe his face. “I’m fine. I’m fine.” He said to nothing in particular, trying to regain composure before he lost it completely.

”No, you’re not.” Tony argued and stood up from his seat. ”Come sit with me, Peter.” The doctor instructed and helped the boy up, guiding him to the sofa so that Peter was sat in Tony’s lap. ”Cry it out, it’s okay.” Tony encouraged gently as he held the boy steady.

Peter tried to glare at the Doctor, but couldn’t resist following the man’s movement and clambering into his lap. He shrunk into himself once he was sat down, and he let the tears fall freely after a couple of seconds. They were there for a couple of minutes, Peter not saying anything and just hiccuping every so often as he tried to recover.

Tony didn’t not say anything either and just let the boy cry, but he did rub his hand up and down the boy’s back to sooth him. ”Just let it out, Peter, don’t hold back.” The doctor instructed when Peter seemed to be choking on his sobs to hold them back.

Peter continued to cry for a few more minutes before finally stopping, his breathing now shaky and his shoulders trembling with emotion. “’m fine… ‘m fine…” He said quietly, before looping his arms around Stark’s neck and burying his face into the crook of the man’s shoulder. “Th-Thanks.”

”You’re welcome, Peter.” Tony muttered into the boy’s curls, holding him close until he calmed down completely. ”That was very brave of you to tell me. You are making such good process, little one.” The doctor praised, adding a little kiss to his temple to emphasise his point.

“Really?” Peter asked in disbelief, like he wasn’t convinced that what he was doing counted as progress. “Can… Can you kiss me again, please?” He asked, still not moving from where he was nestled against Stark’s shoulder. Being this physically close to him was enough to calm him down, and the feeling of Stark’s lips to the side of his head was just an added bonus.

With a smile, Tony leaned closer and this time, he kissed the boy’s cheek. ”You are making progress and you’re a good boy.” Tony confirmed and cradled the back of the boy’s head in his hand. ”You’re a good boy, Peter.”

Peter smiled to himself, squirming to get more comfortable on the doctor’s lap. “Want more kisses…” he said, turning his head to look at the doctor with wide, puppy-dog eyes. He was slowly but surely slipping into littlespace, if his slurring speech was anything to go by, and he snuggled up even closer to the doctor than before.

With a rumbling chuckle, Tony moved to kiss Peter on his lips. Unlike earlier, he was gentle and slow with the boy and with his hand still on the back of his head, the tilted the boy’s head to get better access to his mouth.

Peter gladly followed the movement of Stark’s hands to manipulate his body to the way the man wanted him. He mewled when Stark kissed him, chasing his lips every time the man pulled back to breathe. “More…” He murmured, his eyes at half-mast but still shining and puppy-like.

”You impatient, little thing...” Tony teased with a glint in his eyes and pressed his lips against Peter’s again. As kissing slowly turned to making out, Tony left his hands explore the boy’s body, going from his back to his sides and then his hips.

“Oh _God_ …” Peter whined hopelessly at the man’s teasing, trying his best to not move his hips. “C-Call me that again, please, anything… c-call me…” He couldn’t breathe, not with Stark stealing all his air and the man’s rough, large hands roaming around his body. His hands wandered up to Stark’s hair, gripping it to anchor himself as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

”Little thing. Little one. Little boy. Little prince.” Tony said in between each hungry kiss to the boy’s mouth and he gripped the boy’s hips tighter in his hands.

Peter choked out a gasp, moving his head back to break the kiss. He instantly leaned forward again, this time to kiss desperately at the man’s neck. He was careful to not leave hickies, instead just pressing wet kisses to his throat and jawline. “Daddy, f-fuck…” He whined, his hands still running through Stark’s hair.

Tony shivered at the title and gripped the boy’s hips tighter, almost hard enough to bruise. He tilted his head back and and asked with a smirk. ”Yes, little boy?”

Peter leaned back as well to look at his doctor, but found that was a mistake when he saw Stark’s lidded eyes and cocky smirk. He squeaked with arousal, leaning forward to bury his face into the crook of the man’s shoulder again. His hands ran down the man’s head, down his neck to his chest, where his fingers splayed outward against the muscle. “H-Hold me tighter.” He said as clearly as he could.

Moving his hands from the boy’s hips, Tony wrapped his arms around the boy and held him tight to his chest. ”Is that good, baby boy?” The doctor asked huskily, his lips pressed to Peter’s temple.

“Fuck, _fuck_ …” Peter breathed, trying to catch his breath as best he could while held to the man’s chest. He felt drunk, completely drunk off of arousal and happiness and whatever it was he was feeling while in Stark’s embrace. “D-Daddy, I…” He had no idea what he was saying any more. No idea at all.

Tony looked at Peter properly at his half sentence, but before he could ask he caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. One of the nurses would come to pick up Peter soon, very soon. ”Peter, we don’t have time.” Tony said sadly and as much as it broke his heart, he ushered the boy off his lap to stand up and tidy himself.

 “Shit...” Peter also turned to look at the clock, before turning around again and pressing one last hungry kiss to the doctor’s lips. He stood up off the man’s lap, and moved to sit in the chair he was originally sat in, pulling the hem of his hoodie down where it had been pushed up from having Stark’s hands on his waist. He also ran a hand through his hair, but wasn’t too concerned about it seeing as he had entered the session with bedhead anyway.

All of a sudden, Tony felt embarrassed and turned to look out the window instead of at Peter who was now sat in the chair. His collar felt tight and he cleared his throat before speaking. ”Promise me you won’t tell anyone.” The doctor said, a hint of desperation in his voice as he turned to look at the boy.

Rather than also get embarrassed, Peter just giggled. “You worry too much, Stark. I already promised I won’t, but I’ll promise again.” He said, not taking his eyes off the doctor. He leant down to pick Spidey up off the floor and cradled him to his chest, his eyes glancing up at the clock every so often as they waited for the nurse to come by and collect the boy.

Tony smiled at the boy’s carefree attitude and felt his shoulders relax a little, but he still felt dirty deep in his core for some reason. Before the doctor could ponder more on the feeling, there was a knock at the door and Thor entered. ”Here to pick up a Peter? Is he around?” The nurse asked, pretending not to see Peter as he scanned the office.

 “Hey! ‘m right here, Odinson! Hellooooo?” Peter said, peering over the back of the seat and waving his arm as exaggeratedly as possible to get the nurses attention. Of course, it didn’t work, and Peter huffed, shooting a quick side-eye glance at Stark before getting up out of his seat.

Tony just gave Peter a shrug in response, trying to hold back his laughter at the boy’s adorable face and huffs of frustration. ”Where’s the kid, Doc?” Thor asked, scratching his head as he still pretended to not see Peter. ”I don’t know. He was just here.” Tony said as he went along.

Peter went right up to Thor’s face, waving his hand right in front of the man’s eyes, but when Stark went along with the joke he squeaked in frustration, his mouth dropping open in betrayal. “I’m _right here_!” He said, and it took every ounce of willpower to not just stomp his foot like a child. He pouted at the two men who were staring at each other and trying not to crack up, and he crossed his arms in a huff. “You two are both knuckleheads...” he grumbled, this time walking over to the doctor and poking at his cheek to try and get his attention back.

”Woah! Something just poked me! Watch out!” Tony gasped out, still not meeting Peter’s eyes as he continued the pretend game. ”Okay, hold on, Doc. I’ll try and search.” Thor said and began moving his arms in front of him, approaching Peter slowly until he reached his shoulder. ”There you are! Where did you go, kid?” Thor laughed.

Peter couldn’t help but laugh as well when Thor began to approach him with his arms stretched out like a zombie, though he probably didn’t intend for it to look that way. When he was touched on the shoulder, he looked the man in the eye and raised one eyebrow, trying to appear unimpressed. “Wouldn’t _you_  like to know?” He teased, stepping away from Stark to poke Thor in the side as revenge for pretending he didn’t exist.

Thor continued to laugh as Peter tried to get his revenge, squirming and taking steps back to avoid the boy’s poking fingers. ”Okay, okay. Important thing now is that you’re back with us.” The nurse teased and shoved Peter’s shoulder gently. ”Shall we head to the canteen? They’ve made that famous lasagna today.”

 “Lasagna? As in, the lasagna Rogers likes? This I gotta try.” Peter said, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. It’s like Thor and Peter’s goofy energy ricocheted between them, making it even stronger. “If it’s anything less than great, I’m finding Rogers and throwing the pasta in his face.” He added, turning back to see Stark at the other end of the room. “I’ll see you around, Doctor.” He said sweetly, in a tone that went over Thor’s head but he knew Stark would pick up on, before he turned and left with Thor, still trying to sort out his bedhead.

Tony clenched his jaw at Peter’s tone, already missing the warmth and weight of the boy on his lap. ”Bye, Peter.” The doctor said, his tone neutral but with a glint in his eye that Thor would not pick up on.

Even as he was leaving, Peter could see the glint in Stark’s eye, and it made him gulp nervously. He closed the office door behind him and followed Thor to the canteen.


	28. 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter shares more of his hobbies.

After spending a good amount of time noting down what Peter had said about his parents, Tony got up from his chair by his desk and headed to Banner’s office. Together, the two doctors discussed whether Peter and Loki were fit to do age regression therapy together, considering their blooming friendship. Once they came to that the boys’ were fit for it, Tony and Bruce began planning some details and discussing some precautions. They both agreed to ask their patients for their consent within a few days.

A couple of days had passed, and Peter was sat on his bed, reading a book that Loki had lent him. He wasn’t usually a reader, but he had nothing else to do in the facility, and it passed the time while letting his imagination run wild. Most of his sessions over the last few days with Stark had been them discussing random topics to begin with, followed by copious amounts of making out. It never went further than that, which Peter couldn’t decide whether he liked or not, but the other day Stark had flipped him onto his back on the couch and leaned over him, leaving the boy completely breathless. He sighed as he thought about it, putting the book to one side and massaging his temples.

As Steve headed down to the south wing to fetch Peter for his first session of the day, the nurse hummed a song under his breath and spun his keys around his pointy finger. ”Buddy? It’s time.” Steve announced and knocked on Peter’s door. He remained behind the door where he was leaning against the wall, still humming on his song but turned to face Peter with a smile when he emerged from his room.

Peter looked up at the knock on the door and smiled, knowing that it meant it was time for his first session with Stark. It was almost Pavlovian, the way that thinking about Stark’s sessions left him flustered, but he hid this as well as he could. “Let’s go, Rogers.” He nodded, following the man to Stark’s office. At this point he could walk there with his eyes closed, but he didn’t mind the company on the walk there.

”Here we are.” Steve announced when they reached Stark’s office, as if Peter wasn’t familiar with the facility by now. ”One of us will fetch you later.” The nurse said and opened the door to let Peter into the doctor’s office. This time, Tony was not occupied and stood looking out the window by the two chairs. He turned to look at Peter with a smile as he entered.

”Morning.” The doctor greeted and looked the boy up and down to assess his condition quickly.

Peter nodded to Steve before he headed in, and saw the silhouette of Stark stood by the window as the office door shut behind him. No matter how many times he saw the doctor, or was sat on his lap with his arms around the man’s neck, he always got a little nervous when first greeting him. “Hi...” He said, lifting a hand in a quick wave before dropping it to his side. He didn’t miss how Stark’s eyes swept up and down his body, and Peter could only hope that he was doing it for a medical reason. He moved to sit on one of the chairs, looking up at the Doctor expectantly.

When Peter moved to sit on the chair, Tony did the same and settled in the opposite chair. ”So, how have you been?” The doctor started with the usual vague question. He had two topics in mind that he would like to talk about with Peter, but let the boy start with whatever topic he wanted to bring up.

Peter shrugged. “‘m not bad. I started reading something that Loki lent me, it’s a Stephen King book. It’s not bad, better than sitting around doing nothing.” He said, rocking back and forth gently where he sat with his legs crossed in a pretzel shape on the seat.

”Stephen King, yes. What is it about?” Tony asked. He was happy to find Peter’s energy to be up as he rocked back and forth in his seat. The doctor couldn’t quite believe how much the boy had thrived in such a short period of time.

 “It’s his book ‘IT’? With the, uh, the killer clown and those loser’s club kids who have to fight it every 27 years. I’ve only just started reading, but it’s good so far. The books like 1000 pages, I dunno if I’ll be able to finish it before I leave.” He laughed, scratching the underside of his chin.

”Ah, yes, I’ve heard of that one.” Tony was tempted to talk about the Stephen King books that he had read himself and have a more casual conversation with Peter about the author, but that would not be appropriate and he continued to ask the boy questions. ”Are you going to try to finish it before you leave?”

Peter nodded, still rocking back and forth in the seat. “Yeah, hopefully. I mean, I’ll have to give it back to Loki before I leave, but I’ll try and get through it as much as possible.” He said, before falling silent.

”I see.” Tony said and did not ask further as he guessed the boy was not that interested in talking about his book, so the doctor brought up one of the two topics on his mind. ”I spoke to your aunt earlier, Peter.”

Peter blinked owlishly, then sat up properly in his chair. “You did? What- What did you talk about?” He asked nervously. He knew that Stark wouldn’t bring up their... arrangement, but part of him had an honest fear that Stark didn’t want to do it any more.

”We talked about arranging for her to visit you. She will be here at 12 tomorrow.” Tony said with a smile. Unfortunately, he would not be present during the visit himself, or present at all the next day, because he had the day off. However, he did not mention that just yet.

 “She will? That’s awesome!” He grinned, getting his energy back and bouncing up and down on the seat. “I can’t wait to see her.” He mumbled to himself, a big smile on his face.

Tony grinned back at Peter, mirroring some of his excitement. ”She said she will bring some things with her, including some clothes.” The doctor added.

Peter pumped his fist in excitement. “Great, I’m tired of wearing the same two hoodies over and over. I mean, it’s comfy and stuff, but... I miss wearing jeans.” He said, looking down at where his legs were clad in soft sweatpants. “I hope she brings some books or somethin’ to keep me entertained in here.” He hummed to himself, gazing into the middle distance as he thought about what she might bring.

”She said she would bring you something to keep you more entertained here, yes.” Tony confirmed with a nod. ”But, you know the rules here. We have to check everything that she brings before you can have it.” The doctor reminded.

Peter rolled his eyes at that. This place had so many rules, it was difficult to keep track. “I know, I know... you lot are so uptight about this stuff. I mean, I get why, but still...” He said, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on his kneecaps as he looked Stark in the eye.

”I’m afraid we have to be strict. It’s for everyone’s safety.” Tony explained briefly with a hand gesture to the facility in general. ”Are there things that you miss?”

 “Yeah, yeah, I know...” Peter mumbled, his gaze now dropping to the floor. “Things I miss? Uhm... my Aunt, my friends, obviously... my phone? Uhm... sometimes me ‘n Ned would build big Star Wars Lego stuff, that was always fun. I used to tinker with machines as well, I miss doing that.”

Tony nodded along and made some quick notes on the things Peter listed, as they were obviously important to the boy. ”Do you remember the goal that we made for you recovery?”

"I... I think so. I said I wanted to be well enough to see May 'n Ned 'n MJ again. And... and to be comfortable enough to go swimming with my friends again." He mumbled, looking down at his hands as they fiddled with Spidey's legs.

”And how far have you come to reach that goal? In your opinion?” Tony asked and gestured to Peter.

“Uhm… I think I’m part-way there. I’m excited to see May tomorrow, like _really_  excited, but… I dunno if I could deal with seeing Ned and MJ right now. Like, I miss them so much but… I don’t think I’m well enough for that. It’s different when they’re friends, you know?” Peter said, beginning to pick at the loose threads in his sweatpants.

”That is understandable, yes.” Tony agreed. ”But like you said, you have made progress and you are closer to your goal, which means you get to see your aunt. The next step then, is to get you well enough to handle your friends, yeah?” The doctor explained, wanting to make sure Peter understood that he was on track and getting better.

Peter nodded at that. “Yeah, yeah… I wanna see them again, wanna get better. And, you know, swimming’s always fun.” He laughed, losing some of the nervous energy he had before.

”Do you swim a lot then?” The doctor asked now that the boy had brought it up again. Perhaps the boy had a strong emotional connection to the activity that Tony could use in Peter’s therapy.

“I used to. Used to do all the swimming badges ‘n everything. The water just… I dunno, I like it. It calms me.” Peter said, thinking of when he had last swam with his friends. “Sorry, that sounded really hippie-ish.” He laughed, his lips curling up into a goofy grin. “I can do tons of tricks in the water too. Like, uh, backflips and stuff. I miss that.”

”No, no, that sounds great. Tell me more about how you feel when you swim.” Tony prompted and made a hand gesture for Peter to continue and that he would gladly listen.

“It’s _dumb_!” Peter laughed, trying to move the conversation away from it to save himself from embarrassment. However, when Stark appeared adamant, he rolled his eyes. “I dunno, I just feel more… confident. I think I’m better at swimming than I am at walking. I just move how I wanna move, ‘n… the water’s just kinda soothing, as well, like the feel of it? Feels like a weird blanket.”

”A blanket.” Tony repeated and nodded. ”Do you swim alone or with someone?”

“I used to swim weekly alone, on Saturday mornings. Occasionally in the summers I’d go with Ned and MJ and some other friends and we’d just dick around and play with pool toys ‘n stuff. We’d have, like, races and wrestling matches which we’d always get yelled at for, but it was fun.” Peter said, momentarily lost in the memories of a few summers ago, when they had gone to a swimming lake nearby on the hottest day of the year. 

Tony hummed as he listened, his chin resting in his palm. ”You said you used to swim weekly. Why did you stop?”

“I, uhm, I stopped going when Ben died. I just kinda… lost interest. In that, and a lot of things. And then I started going to the therapists, and that took up my time. But then I stopped going to them, and I just kinda lost interest in everything. Aaaand now I’m here.” Peter said, now clearly uncomfortable with the conversation matter.

”I see. The loss of Ben changed your world. Is that correct?” Tony asked with a gentler voice, seeing that Peter was growing uncomfortable, but he did not change the subject.

“Yes.” Peter mumbled. He was beginning to close up, slowly but surely, and his chin remained on his knees as he stared into the middle distance. His blinking became slow, as did his breathing as he thought it over.

Tony let the boy be for a little while, as he was clearly thinking very hard. After a moment, the doctor asked. ”What are you thinking about? 

“I dunno. How much I miss him. What life would be like if he was still here. Stuff like that.” He said, still not looking the man in the face. 

Tony hummed at that and stayed silent for a while. ”What do you think life would be like if he was still here?” 

“Dunno. Better. I don’t think I’d be here, for starters.” He mumbled, barely answering the questions at this point. Discussing Uncle Ben always had this effect on him, despite it happening a few years ago.

”Why is that?” Tony continued to ask, but feared that he had pushed too far when the boy shot him a glare.

Peter huffed, glowering at the man for a second. “You’re starting to sound like Strange. I thought you were better than that, Stark.” He said, before looking back at the floor. “Can we talk about something else now?

Tony blinked at Peter’s sharp comment, but did not let on how the words and tone of the boy hurt his feelings. The doctor wanted to press on because he knew that Peter’s emotional wounds would have to be re-opened for them to heal properly, but he could hardly deny the boy when he explicitly asked for the subject to be changed. ”Of course. What do you wish to talk about?”

Now that Peter had the freedom to talk about whatever he wanted, he found that he had no idea what he wanted to talk about. At this point, he would usually clamber into the man's lap, and as of recent demand as many kisses as the doctor could give him. Right now, though, he simply sat there, staring into the distance as memories of Uncle Ben drowned him. "I don't know."

Tony nodded. ”Are you still thinking about your Uncle?” The doctor asked, as he figured talking about the loss of his beloved parental figure brought of up many memories and emotions. The boy seemed to be somewhere else entirely, his eyes wide as he stared out of the window to his right.

“Yeah.” He mumbled. He wasn’t crying, but he was definitely upset by the memories of Ben, and his limbs trembled a little bit. “I’m… sorry for snapping at you like that.” He said, finally looking Stark in the eye briefly.

”That’s all right, Peter.” Tony said with a little smile. ”You became emotional and we all say things we regret when we become worked up. The important thing is to apologise for it and work it out after. So, thank you for the apology.” The doctor explained, as he wanted to show Peter how to deal with difficult conversations. So that, hopefully, Peter could use what he had learned when talking to May about Ben’s passing.

 “Right...” He nodded, still a little nervous with the worry that he might’ve upset the doctor. “Can I... can I have a hug, please?” He asked, but made no attempt to move, just in case the doctor said no.

”Of course.” Tony said with a smile and stood up, offering his hand to guide the boy over to the sofa. He figured the boy wanted more than just a hug and actually wanted cuddles.

Peter smiled weakly in return, taking the man’s hand and heading to the sofa. Without hesitation, he clambered onto Stark’s lap and swung his legs so he was sat sideways with his head resting on the doctor’s shoulder. He didn’t kiss him just yet, just let his eyes flutter shut as he relaxed against the warm weight of Stark’s chest.

Once Peter settled onto his lap, Tony wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. ”You’re okay, Peter. You were so brave for telling me all that.” The doctor said quietly.

 “You always say ‘m brave... it never feels brave though.” Peter mumbled in response, melting at how tightly the doctor held him. He nuzzled his face against the side of Stark’s neck and began planting soft kisses there, not looking to start anything, just to comfort himself.

”It takes a lot of courage to open up like you do, that’s why I say that you’re brave.” Tony explained, rubbing Peter’s back up and down with a little smile on his face at the sensation of the boy’s lips on his neck. ”It may not feel like it, but you are brave for doing it.”

Peter didn’t say anything, just hummed in response before slowly lifting his head to change the direction of his kisses up to the corner of the man’s mouth. He whined when Stark didn’t turn, but sighed happily once he did, one hand sliding up to tangle his fingers in Stark’s hair.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s adorable whine and turned to kiss the boy back properly. He reminded the doctor of a puppy dog with his little needy noises and wide brown eyes.

 “D-Daddy, can you... can you kiss my neck? I’ve never, u-uhm, never had it on me before and I-I wanna see what it feels like.” He asked timidly once they had separated for air, making sure to use his puppy dog eyes to the max.

Tony smirked at Peter’s shy request. ”Tilt your head back, little boy.” The doctor instructed and very gently at first, he began kissing the boy’s delicate neck before kissing more firmly, but not hard enough to bruise or leave any marks.

Peter did as he was told, soft gasps beginning to escape him as Doctor Stark planted kisses to his neck and the column of his throat. He whined again, trying to catch his breath, and his grip in Stark’s hair tightened. “F-Feels so good...” he whimpered. In any other situation, this would be too ticklish for Peter to handle, but for some reason at this very moment he was just sensitive enough to enjoy it without squirming too much.

Holding Peter steady with a hand on the back of his head and the other on his back, Tony continued to kiss the boy’s neck, working his way up to his jawline and then under his chin. ”Yeah? It does, doesn’t it...” Tony murmured and tilted the boy’s head back down to kiss him on the lips.

Peter could only sit there and whimper as Stark’s kisses made their way back up to his lips. He breathed through his nose as they kissed, and when they broke apart he immediately snuggled back into the man’s side. “Wanna kiss Daddy all the time...” he mumbled, his mind slipping a bit into littlespace.

”Hmm... Does it make you feel good?” Tony asked, noticing how Peter’s voice became softer. The need for physical contact was the first tell that the boy was slipping into his littlespace.

 “Mhm...” Peter hummed, nodding his head and curling in on himself so that he could fit better in the man’s lap. “Makes me feel so good, Daddy... wanna... wanna...” He couldn’t think of what to say, he just needed Stark with him, and couldn’t get enough of it when he was.

”What, little one?” Tony chuckled at Peter’s cute stuttering and rubbed his back to encourage him to explain himself better.

Peter squeaked at the nickname and hid his face, shaking his head which made his curls bounce. He began to blush, the soft pink colour slowly but surely reaching his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

”Oh, come on now. Tell me what you’re thinking about, little one.” Tony said and bounced his leg to get Peter to spill his secret, despite his obvious embarrassment.

Peter shook his head again, more assertively this time, and kept his face buried into the crook of Stark’s neck. He giggled lightly when the man bounced him on his leg, but refused to say what he was thinking about.

When Peter did not speak up, Tony gave in after glancing up at the clock and seeing that their time was starting running out. ”All right, then. You can tell me next time.” The doctor said and made Peter sit up in his lap so that they had eye contact. ”There is something we have to discuss, Peter.”

Peter slowly followed the guidance to sit up properly, and his wide puppy brown eyes fell onto Stark’s face. He had no idea what was coming next, and just like last time, he dreaded that Stark didn’t want to do this any more. He held his breath, chewing at his bottom lip.

”It’s nothing bad, Peter, just a suggestion.” Tony explained and bounced his leg to get Peter to smile. ”I’ve talked with Doctor Banner about the possibility of you and Loki doing the age regression therapy together. What do you think about that?” The doctor asked.

Peter relaxed a little when Stark mentioned that it was nothing bad, but he was still nervous. “Me... me ‘n Lo together?” He said, making sure he heard the man right. “That... that sounds fun. I’d like that. Will... will you still be there?” He asked, his hands coming up to play with the buttons on Doctor Stark’s labcoat.

”Yes, I will be there.” Tony confirmed, smiling at how the boy played with his coat. ”Doctor Banner will be there too. What do you think about regressing while he is also present?” The doctor asked further.

 “I... Uhm...” Peter jutted his bottom lip out, deep in thought. “I dunno. ‘s just... I’ll know how I feel when it happens, you know?” He said, flicking the buttons occasionally.

”That makes sense, yes.” Tony said with a smile before explaining further. ”I am asking you because I need to know whether or not you are comfortable with the idea. It is perfectly fine to say no.” The doctor assured as he did not want to persuade the boy to do this if he did not want to.

 “I wanna do it.” Peter said confidently, beginning to wiggle his toes in excitement. He always liked spending time with Loki, and part of him wondered what the other boy was like when he was in littlespace. “When would we do it?” He asked, dropping the buttons and instead simply sitting with his hands in his lap.

”I will have to check with Doctor Banner, but in a few days time.” Tony said with a smile, as he was quite happy with Peter’s decision. ”You have quite the busy day tomorrow, though? Don’t you?” The doctor said and bounced both his legs so that Peter nearly crashed into his chest, but he held the boy steady with his hands on his waist.

 “Oh, yeah, yeah!” Peter grinned, suddenly remembering that May was coming tomorrow. “You kissed me stupid, I forgot.” He giggled, squealing again when he fell against the man’s chest. His hands travelled down to wrap themselves on top of Stark’s, and he pressed down so that Stark’s fingertips would press firmly into his waist.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s giggles and tightened his grip on the boy. ”You’ll get to spend most of the day with you aunt as I have the day off tomorrow, so we won’t have our usual sessions.” The doctor explained with a smile as he had a feeling Peter would not like the idea of not having their usual sessions. But, he hoped that the promise of seeing his aunt would keep Peter’s mind occupied that day.

 “Wait, what? You won’t... won’t be here?” He said, frowning profusely. Peter didn’t like the sound of that, but he knew he was seeing Aunt May, so he wasn’t as upset as he could have been. “I’ll miss you, Daddy.” He said quietly, leaning forward to plant a quick, chaste kiss to the man’s cheek. “And so will Spidey!” He added, looking over to where Spidey was sat on the seat Peter was previously sat on.

”That’s okay, little one.” Tony assured when Peter became slightly worked up and leaned into the touch of his soft lips on his cheek. ”We’ll continue like we have the day after tomorrow, yeah? You’ll have so much fun seeing your aunt tomorrow.” The doctor said, bringing his hands up to pinch Peter’s cheeks gently to get him to cheer up.

Peter nodded, but began squirming again when Stark tried to pinch his cheeks. “Heeeey, ‘m not a _baby_ …” He said, tossing his head to try and escape the doctor’s fingers. However, he stopped eventually and let the man squeeze at his face, pulling a haughty, if not slightly exaggerated pouting face.

”Never said you were.” Tony chuckled and squished the boy’s cheeks together before letting him go. There was a knock at the door and both Tony and Peter turned to look as Steve entered the office.

”Hey, Doc. I’m here to pick up a... good boy. Do you have one here?” The nurse said and pretended to check the palm of his hand as if it was a paper. ”I sure do, right here.” Tony grinned and bounced his legs to get Peter bouncing too.

Peter looked between the doctor and the nurse in confusion, which quickly turned to amusement when Stark bounced him on his knee. He squealed, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck to steady himself against the bouncing, and looked back at the nurse with a big grin on his face. “Stevie!”

”What? Aren’t you the good boy I’m supposed to pick up?” Steve asked with a laugh as he came over to the sofa.

”It’s him, I’m sure of it.” Tony chimed in and finally stopped moving his leg to let Peter catch his breath.

Peter caught his breath quickly when Stark stopped bouncing him, and unwrapped his arms from around his neck so that he could stand up. He couldn’t resist glancing back at Stark one last time, soft but with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

”Lets go, buddy. Doc’s a busy man.” Steve said with a sing-song voice and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder to guide him to the door.

”I’ll see you in two days, yeah?” Tony said as he stood up and tried his hardest to not kiss the boy goodbye, even though he very much wanted to.

Peter pouted, but nodded resolutely. “See you in two days.” He said, glancing over his shoulder at the man. He tried his best not to look too pathetic as Steve guided out of the office, and Peter couldn’t help wondering how he was going to get through the next few days.


	29. 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter gets to see may.

Before Tony left for the day and to enjoy his time off, he left some instructions for Steve on how to handle Peter when it came to meeting his aunt. With the instructions in mind, the blonde nurse met with May in the lobby when she arrived before escorting her to one of the meeting rooms. ”I’ll go fetch him then.” Steve said with a friendly smile before he headed out into the patient areas to find Peter.

Peter was sat on his usual windowsill out in the corridor, his nose buried in Stephen King’s ‘IT’. He was a little further into the book, and was greatly enjoying it. It took him a few seconds to realise that someone was calling his name, and he looked up to see that Steve was stood by his side, reading over his shoulder. “Oh, hey, Steve! Is it time?” He said, already nervous and excited in equal measures.

”Yes, your aunts waiting for you.” Steve confirmed and gestured to the hallway with his head. Once Peter jumped down from his windowsill and set his book aside, he dashed down the hallway and Steve had to jog after him. ”No running, Peter!” The nurse tried to remind with a stern tone, but just ended up laughing instead at the boy’s excitement.

Peter couldn’t resist sprinting down the corridor in the direction of the visitor’s room, leaving Steve behind in the dust. He rounded the corner and headed into the large room, which had tables and chairs scattered around. He spotted May immediately and bounded forward, almost knocking her over in a bear-hug.

Hearing the door open, May turned around and gasped in awe of finally seeing her nephew. ”Oh, baby!” She sighed, trying to hold back tears as she held Peter tight to her. Steve watched with a fond smile before heading out quietly.

Peter held on to May for a long, _long_  time before the two of them separated and headed to a pair of chairs. “I’ve missed you _so much_!” He sighed, his eyes glancing down to the bag that May had by her feet. That could wait until later, though. 

”I’ve missed you more.” May whined out and ruffled Peter’s curls before moving to sit next to him. ”It’s so quiet at home without you around.” She said, a hint of sadness in her voice as she moved a strand of hair behind her nephew’s ear. 

“I don’t think I was ever that loud, May… unless it was game night with Ned. Then I get it.” He said, laughing to himself as he remembered how May would frequently interrupt their Battlefront 2 gameplay to tell them to go to sleep. “How, uhm, how have you been?”

May laughed at the memories of the countless times she had to tell the boys’ off as she looked at Peter. He seemed healtier with his eyes bright, a smile on his face and colour in his cheeks. Doctor Stark must be really good, May thought to herself. ”I’ve been okay, yeah, busy with work as always.” She chuckled before adding a bit more quietly. ”Been worrying about you.”

 “Worrying about me?” He asked, cocking his head to one side. “May, I promise I’m okay. Remember what I said about how if I wasn’t, you would know?” He said, beginning to pick at the loose threads of his sweatpants.

”Yeah, yeah, but look at you, Peter. You shouldn’t be in here.” May said, lifting a hand to stroke Peter’s cheek gently, handling him as if he was made of glass. ”You should be at home with me and at school with Ned and MJ. They really miss you.”

Peter shrugged at that, looking down at the floor a little awkwardly. “I know, May, and I miss you too, but... I dunno, maybe it’s good that I’m in here. Just for a little while, anyway. I’m getting better in here, and I dunno if that would’ve happened otherwise.” He mumbled, his gaze coming back up to meet May’s.

May hummed in response as she considered what her nephew had said, but let her own anxieties take over. ”When can you come home?” She asked.

 “Uhm...” Peter thought about it carefully, counting the days on his fingers and mumbling under his breath. “I’ve been here a week and a half... so another week and a half? I’m here for three weeks.”

May tried not to show her disappointment and sadness, but instead put on a cheerful face. ”That’s great! That will just fly by won’t it? Oh! We should have a big movie night when you come back home.” She grinned with excitement, waiting for Peter to mirror it.

May seemed off, Peter thought to himself, but smiled regardless and sat up further in his chair. “Yeah, that sounds great! I’m already thinking about what movies I’m gonna pick.” He laughed, lifting his legs up to cross them in a lotus position on the chair. “I spoke to Ned the other day, after you had to go back to work. He was in school though, so my conversation with him was even shorter than ours.”

”So, what is Ned up go?” May asked and moved to rest her chin in her palm to listen, but actually she was more interested in looking at her nephew as he talked to convince herself that he was in fact okay. And not about to die and leave her all alone.

 “Actually, uhm... He never got around to telling me. He was in the school bathroom and he got a detention for being on his phone. I, uh, I felt kinda bad but he didn’t sound bothered about it before he left.” He admitted, wincing at how quickly Ned had ended the call. “I didn’t get to speak to MJ, but Ned said that she missed me too, which is... nice, and slightly out of character for MJ.” He laughed, thinking about how detached the girl could be sometimes.

”Aww, poor buddy” May laughed. ”And they’ve been dropping by at home asking for you. Did I mention that?” She asked, her brows knit together as she thought hard about it.

 “Y-Yeah, you did...” Peter said, his heart hurting at that. Fuck, he missed them _so much_. He brought his knees from the lotus position up to his chest, and his gaze fell to the floor as he thought about his friends. “I miss them so much.”

”Just a little longer, baby.” May tried to comfort, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder and giving a reassuring squeeze. ”How’s the therapy going? Like what do you actually do here all day?” May asked, her gaze wondering around the room a bit.

Immediately, Peter’s head was filled with thoughts of Stark; being held firmly on his lap, kissing until they were both breathless, the man’s hands exploring his body under his oversized hoodie, and Peter cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s just, uhm, just behavioural therapy. We talk about how each day has been, and then we try ‘n discuss how to fix unhealthy thinking patterns that I have, and stuff like that.” He didn’t dare bring up the age regression part - May would probably find that creepy to say the least.

”Right, right. That sounds good. And you do that with Stark then?” May asked, curious to now what they made her nephew do at the closed facility all day.

 “Mhm. He’s good. He’s a bit... detached, but I guess psychiatrists have to be.” He mumbled, although he immediately felt a wave of guilt at how effortlessly he could lie. ‘Detached’ was the last word that Peter could use to describe Stark at this point, but he had no choice. He couldn’t jeopardise Stark’s job.

”Yeah, that’s true. He’s your doctor after all, so he has to be somewhat detached. But, do you like him still? He helps you?” May asked further, scooting fowards in her seat to be closer to Peter.

 “Yeah, yeah, I... I like him.” _I like him a hell of a fucking lot_ , Peter thought to himself. “He helps, he’s good at what he does.” _He’s so fucking good_. “I’m fine in here, May, I _promise_.”

”Okay, that’s good to hear.” May sighed with a little smile and sat back a little. They fell silent for a while, just enjoying each others company after such a long time. But, when May saw how Peter was eyeing the bag she had brought, she chuckled. ”I wasn’t entirely sure what you wanted me to bring, so I brought a bit from here and there.”

Peter grinned when she mentioned the bag. He found that he had been looking down at it every so often during their conversation, and he was excited to get more supplies to survive in this place. “What did you bring?” He asked, beginning to bounce on the seat with excitement as he dropped his legs back to rest on the floor, and leaned forward expectantly.

”I brought some books that I found on your desk. Not school textbooks, though. I figured you don’t need those.” May chuckled a little and gestured to the bag on the floor. ”And some clothes among other things. Have a look, baby, it’s all your stuff.”

 “Thank God...” Peter huffed, reaching down to pull the bag over to him. He peered inside, and immediately gasped with delight. “This is so great! I was borrowing a book from Loki, cos I didn’t have any of my own...” he mumbled as he continued to sort through the bag. May had even packed a rubix cube, which he pulled out with a laugh. “This will keep me occupied for a while.”

May watched with a fond smile as Peter looked through his belongings, happy to know that she could still make him smile. ”Who’s Loki again?” She recognised the name from their phone call, but couldn’t remember what Peter had said about him.

 “Hm? Oh, Loki?” Peter hummed, still not looking up from the bag as he rummaged through it. “He’s that friend I was telling you about, the one with the long hair? He was kind of an asshole when I first met him, but now we get along really well.” He said, seeing what books she had brought along. He didn’t mention how they may be doing therapy together.

”Ah, yes, yes.” May nodded and snapped his fingers as she remembered. ”So, is he a friend or what?”

 “Yeah, I think so. We spend a lot of time together when we can, like in the canteen and stuff. Sometimes he comes to my room, or I go to his. Recently he’s been in the medical ward, but he’s getting better.” He explained, gasping in surprise when May had remembered to put some of his new, unread comic books in his bag.

”Why is he there?” May asked. ”You were there too right? The doctor came after I had dropped you off here, but he didn’t say much. To be honest, I didn’t trust him all that much, but you’re technically an adult now so I cannot make those decisions for you anymore.”

The smile fell from Peter’s face, slowly but surely, and he glanced up at his aunt. “I was there cos I wasn’t healthy, May. You saw what I looked like, I was a mess.” He said, fiddling with the rubix cube. “But I’m alright now, okay? Lo’s gonna be fine too.”

”I remember.” May said a little quietly, the memories of a grey-skinned and hollow looking Peter still fresh in her mind. ”But, yeah, you’ll be okay.” She agreed and busied herself with looking at some of the books and comics that Peter had now placed on the table.

Peter fell quiet, now only looking through the bag that May had brought along. He smiled when he noticed that she had packed a couple of pairs of skinny jeans, and some more hoodies. He grinned, lifting up one of the new shirts to reveal the science pun on it, and immediately burst into giggles at it. “Thanks for bringing these, May.”

”No problem, baby.” May giggled back. ”Stark said that I should bring some new clothes for you.” She explained until she seemed to remember something. ”How often do you get to have your phone? When I didn’t hear from you for over a week I started questioning whether I dropped you off at a prison or a mental health facility.” She joked before she added. ”The first time you called me every few days.”

 “Huh?” Peter looked up from where he was gazing at a t-shirt that said ‘If you believe in telekinesis, raise my right hand’. “Oh, right... well, uhm, it was just a bit complicated cos I was in the med ward for a while.” He said, awkwardly bluffing his way through the conversation. He didn’t dare mention how he and Loki had their phone privileges revoked for the following day when they had tried to break into Stark’s office that one time.

”Did you get a nasal gastric tube while you were on the ward?” May asked, but had to explain further when Peter gave her a confused look. ”It’s a feeding tube. It’s inserted through your nose and into your stomach.” She was quite familiar with the procedure herself, as she had assissted many doctors with it while working at the hospital.

 “No, I got a... an IV thing with the saline, and a banana bag? I think that’s what they called it?” He asked, still looking through the bag until he was certain he had seen all there was to be seen.

”Ah, yeah. That’s just water and some liquid nutrition then.” May nodded. ”How long were you on the ward?” Before Peter got to answer, there was a knock at the door and Steve popped his head in. ”Everything all right here?” The nurse asked with a friendly smile.

Peter opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted when Steve knocked on the door. “Oh, h-hey Steve! Steve, this is my Aunt May. May, this is Steve. He’s one of the nurses that helps me.” He mumbled, raising a hand in Steve’s general direction. “Steve, check out some of the shirts May brought me, they’ve all got puns on them.” He snorted, lifting the telekinesis shirt up so the nurse could see.

”Yes, we met briefly when May arrived.” Steve explained and May nodded in confirmation. ”...raise my right hand. Oh! That’s clever.” Steve laughed once he understood the joke. ”What else did you get, Peter?” The nurse asked and moved to sit opposite the two of them, glancing down at the comics and the books spread out on the table.

Peter grinned at the nurse’s reaction and watched as he moved to sit down. He was _relieved_  that Steve had decided to join them, as it meant he could avoid the question of why he hadn’t phoned in so long. The memory of breaking into Stark’s office still lingered in the back of his mind, and he shook his head to clear it before also looking down at the table. “She brought a bunch of stuff. Books, clothes... rubix cube.” He said, picking the cube up and throwing it in the air to catch it. “She remembered the comics that I bought before I came here which I never got a chance to read...”

”Oh, these looks cool.” Steve said and picked up one of the comics and glanced through some pages. ”The comics, the books and the cube is all okay, but I will have to go through the clothes in case they have strings. It’s just facility policy.” The nurse explained and made an apologetic face towards May, but Peter did not seem upset by it. The boy was more than familiar with the rules by now.

Peter also looked up at May, but he didn’t seem too bothered by the rules. He was used to them, and so his gaze dropped back down to flicking through one of the comic books that May had brought along. “Stevie, when did Stark say he was coming back?” He asked, trying not to sound too clingy or desperate at how he already missed the man and it was barely after midday.

”He’ll be back tomorrow morning.” Steve assured with a smile. ”But if you wish to speak to a doctor before that, then both Banner and Rhodes are on call today. And me, Buck and Thor are also around.” The nurse added before May chimed in.

”Is there something on your mind, baby? You can talk to me, it’s okay.” May said hastily, assuming the worst from Peter’s question and having a need to make sure her nephew was okay while she could.

 “Right, right, cool...” Peter nodded, but startled when May immediately spoke up. He blinked owlishly at her for a second, then shook his head. “No, no, I’m fine, May. It’s just weird cos I usually see him every day.” He explained, glancing at Steve out of the corner of his eye. He had a knot in his stomach, accompanied with the feeling that the nurse could see through his bullshit and that he knew that Peter was missing the Doctor. “I’m fine, May, I promise.” He looked back at his aunt with a soft smile.

”Yeah, you’ll be okay. You have to be.” May said quietly, lifting a hand up to push a strand off hair behind Peter’s ear. Steve watched the two interact caught onto Peter’s odd body language, as he moved away from his aunt just a fraction. The boy was nervous and seemed uncomfortable, so the nurse decided to cut the visit short. ”I’m afraid visiting hours are over now, Peter and Ms Parker.” Steve announced

He _h_ _as_  to be? Peter didn’t like the sound of that, and he flinched a little bit as May leaned towards him, but luckily she didn’t notice. When Steve spoke up again, he tried to resist the wave of relief that washed over him, and instead turned to look at May with an apologetic face. “I’ll miss you, May.” He mumbled, now genuinely getting a little sad.

”I’ll miss you too, baby. Oh, my boy.” May sighed as she moved to pull Peter into her embrace, squeezing him in her arms lovingly. ”Call me as much as you can, yeah?” May said quietly before pulling back and looking her nephew in his eyes.

 “Maaaaay, not in front of the nurse!” He groaned, but hugged her back just as tightly. When they pulled away, he nodded resolutely. “Promise I will. I’ll be out before you know it, May.” He said, offering a gentle smile.

Seeing Peter’s embarrassment, May couldn’t help herself but pulled the boy closer by his shoulders to plant a kiss on his cheek. ”That’s good to hear.” She said with a fond smile, chuckling when Peter wipped his cheek with the back of his hand.

”Shall I follow you out, Ms Parker? It’s quite the maze here.” Steve chuckled as he stood up.

Peter rolled his eyes exaggeratedly when May pulled him in for a kiss, and pretended to be disgusted by it as he wiped at his face. He followed the adults out into the corridor, and gave May one last hug before they headed in one direction, and he headed in the other. He was off to find Loki.

Loki was sat in the canteen with Thor, a faint blush on his face as he listened to the nurse tell a story. When he spotted Peter coming over, Loki smiled at him shyly before turning back to hear Thor’s punch line and lifting a hand to silence his giggles. ”It’s true, it’s true!” Thor laughed before he noticed Peter. ”Hey, kiddo. You want to join us?”

Peter entered the canteen to see Loki and Thor sat together on a nearby table. He couldn’t resist giving a knowing look to Loki before he sat down, purposefully sitting near Loki which forced him to move closer to Thor. “What’s got you so giggly?” He asked, poking Loki in the cheek playfully.

”No-nothing...” Loki stuttered and blushed darker, lowering his head but with a shy smile on his face. ”So, what have you been up to, Peter?” Thor asked to change the subject, but also to spare Loki some of his dignity.

Peter grinned at Loki but otherwise didn’t press the issue, and instead turned back to Thor. “I got to see Aunt May just now, ‘n she gave me a bunch of stuff to keep me occupied in here.” He said, rummaging around in the bag before bringing out the rubix cube and placing it on the table. “She brought me some clothes but I think Rogers is checking them for strings ‘n stuff.”

”Fucking strings...” Loki muttered with an eyeroll and a laugh. ”Oh, lucky you.” Thor said with a smile as he moved to get up. ”I’ll let you two catch up, yeah? Gotta bring someone to their session in a bit.” The nurse said and gave the boys a wave before walking away. Loki followed Thor with his eyes until he disappeared around the corner, the blush on his face still very much bright pink.

Peter waved at Thor as he left, before turning to face Loki properly. “Soooooo, how was Thooooor?” He asked, finally showing his smug grin in all of its asshole-ish glory. He nudged the boy incessantly with his elbow, before looking back into the bag to pull out a couple of comics to show the other patient.

”Stop!” Loki yelped and shooed Peter away with a laugh. ”He’s- he’s good.” The boy answered simply, biting his lip to stop himself from grinning. ”Anyway, did you get to see your family?” Loki asked. He had mastered the trick of deflecting attention from himself years ago.

Peter giggled, shielding himself from Loki’s shoving before dropping his arms. “Yeah, I saw Aunt May. She’s the only family I have left, so it was just her visiting. She brought me all this cool stuff, look, books and comics and stuff.” He said, bringing the bag up to his lap so that Loki could peer inside. “You can, uhm, you can borrow stuff if you want. I dunno if you’ll like any of it, but...” he mumbled, peering into the bag.

At the mention of family, Loki swallowed a little thickly before trying to avert his attention. Luckily, one of the comic book covers caught Loki’s interest and he picked it up to study it closer. ”Tintin, huh? I used to love the show when I was younger. Never read any of the comics though.” He said as he looked through some pages.

 “Hm? Oh, yeah... I watched that weird 3D animated Tintin movie back when I was like 10, and then I became obsessed with it for a while so I got the comics. I always wanted a dog like Snowy.” He snorted, leaning over to see which comic Loki had picked up. After a few minutes of companionable silence, he spoke up again. “Hey, uhm, did Banner talk to you about... the joint therapy thing?”

When Peter spoke, Loki snapped his head up. ”Yeah, yeah... He did. What did Stark tell you about it?” The boy asked and flipped to another page of the comic and fiddled with it while he looked up at Peter shyly.

 “He said that... that if we wanted to, we could do the age regression therapy together sometimes, cos... cos we’ve been getting along well recently. But he said only if both of us wanted to, and... and I said I wanted to do it.” He admitted, biting down on his lip nervously. What if Loki didn’t want to do it? He would be made to look like a complete muppet.

With a little smile, Loki looked down at the comic again before responding quietly. ”I-I said I wanted to do it too.” He admitted and glanced up at the boy next to him.

Peter blinked owlishly, but then his face split into a huge toothy grin. “Alriiight!” He crowed, doing a little fist pump and poking at the boy’s cheek. “Double trouble, right?” He said excitedly, resting his chin on his palm so that he could gaze at Loki properly.

”Yeah, yeah. Whatever, puppy eyes.” Loki chuckled and shoved Peter playfully. He had done joint age regression therapy with other patients before, but it hadn’t turned out that great. However, with Peter he felt like it could be good and he was looking forward to the next day.

 “Hey! Watch it, greaseball.” He said, shoving the boy back with a laugh. They ended up having a playful fake fight, which ended with Peter managing to get his hands on Loki’s face to squish his cheeks together. He couldn’t lie, part of him was nervous, but a bigger part of him was excited to see what the session would be like.


	30. 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki regress together.

”Hey, I’m gonna go fetch Peter now.” Tony said as he poked his head into Bruce’s office. The other doctor raised his head from where he was looking at his pager. ”I’m getting Thor to bring Loki right now. I’ll see you in the second room?” Bruce said and Tony gave a nod and thumbs up before going to fetch Peter.

Peter was lying on his bed, fiddling with the rubix cube. He wasn’t too bad at it, and his fingers moved deftly to flick the coloured squares back and forth, back and forth, until he paused to think. At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Peter looked up. He expected to see Rogers or maybe Barnes, but his eyes widened a little bit when he saw Stark stood by the doorframe, gazing at him. “Oh, h-hi! Is it, uhm, is it time?”

”Yes, it’s time. Shall we?” Tony said with a smile and waited for Peter to set his cube aside and get out of his bed. ”Did your aunt bring that?” The doctor asked. He also noticed the comics and books on the boy’s nightstand.

Peter rolled out of bed and grabbed Spidey to stuff him under one arm. “Huh? Oh, yeah, she did! She brought a bunch of stuff, and some more clothes. Look, look!” He said, pulling up his hoodie to show the man the science pun t-shirt he was wearing today, which had a drawing of a triangle and ‘Find X’ on it, with a little arrow drawn towards the algebraic X and the caption ‘here it is’.

Tony squinted his eyes as he read the pun before he cracked into a grin. ”That’s a good one, yeah.” He chuckled. ”So, how did the meeting go?” He asked as he walked out of the room with Peter trailing one step behind him.

Peter grinned proudly, dropping his hoodie back down to cover his torso as they began walking to his office. “It went good! I missed her a lot...” he said, mindlessly nibbling on the tip of his thumb with Spidey in his other hand, one of Peter’s initial signs of regression as clear as day. “Missed you too...” He mumbled quietly, gazing at the man in front of him with his patented puppy eyes.

Tony hummed at Peter’s quiet comment, but couldn’t reply with the same sentiment considering how they were out in the hallways and not in the privacy of his office. ”What about the rest of the day?” The doctor asked instead. He had read the reports from the rest of the staff from when he was gone and didn’t find anything concerning. Still, he wanted to hear it from Peter.

 “Uhm... me ‘n Lo spent the day together readin’ comics. And then it was dinner and then lights out.” He shrugged, walking a little bit faster to keep up with the Doctor. Once they got to the office, he immediately sat down in his usual chair, bringing his legs up to cross them in a lotus shape. He watched the man as he came in, a gentle smile on his face.

”Sounds like a good day.” Tony said with a smile as he moved to sit opposite Peter. ”Is there anything else you’d like to talk about before we get you regressed and go to see Loki and Banner?” The doctor asked.

 “Did... didyoumissmetoo?” Peter asked, saying it as quickly as possible to try and minimise the amount of embarrassment he felt about asking. His hands withdrew into his hoodie to form sweater paws, and one came up to his mouth where he continued to suck lightly on the tip of his right thumb.

”I did miss you, Peter.” Tony replied with a warm smile. He had genuinely missed the boy, but still a day off from work was very much needed and he enjoyed it. He also saw the signs that Peter was regressing already.

Peter’s smile got wider until it was spread from ear to ear, and the boy couldn’t resist getting off his chair to sit on Stark’s lap to give him a hug. “Missed Daddy...” he mumbled into the doctor’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around Stark’s neck as he hugged him tightly.

”Oh, hello, there.” Tony chuckled and arranged the boy onto his lap comfortably. ”I missed you too, little one.” The doctor cooed and hugged the boy back. ”But, you had a good day without me, right?” He asked, hoping Peter could see that he could handle things by himself even though he misses people.

 “Mhm! Me ‘n Lo played together all day! When’s he coming, I wanna see him!” He said excitedly, bouncing on the man’s lap. He was now well and truly regressed, and Stark’s use of his favourite petname was the final thing that had eased him into his headspace.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s excitement and held him steady on his lap by placing his hands on his hips. ”You’ll see him in a bit. Banner is helping him get regressed too and then we will all head down to the playroom. How does that sound?” The doctor asked with a smile.

“Playroom? There’s a playroom here?” Peter asked, his eyes wide and excited at the thought of it. He could only imagine what was in there, and it only served to get him more excited than he was before. He placed his hands on top of Stark’s and began to fiddle with the man’s fingers, pressing on his knuckles to flatten his fingers against the boy’s waist. 

”Yes, there is. We have been in one before, remember? This one is not the same though, but it’s the bigger room.” Tony explained as he bounced the boy on his lap. The doctor also glanced up at the clock to check when they should head to the playroom.

“Oh…” Peter mumbled, pausing momentarily to think it through. He was brought out of his reverie when Stark began bouncing him on his lap, and he squealed with delight. He cuddled the man close and peppered kisses to the man’s cheek. “I wanna see Loki!” He huffed, pouting adorably.

”Impatient, are we?” Tony laughed and stroked Peter’s head with one hand, while keeping the other on his waist. Tony guessed that Bruce wasn’t done getting Loki regressed yet, so they would have to wait a little longer. Still, the doctor had some things to go over with his patient before they could carry out the joint therapy. ”Before we go, there are some things you need to keep in mind, okay?” Tony said and paused so that Peterr would give him all his attention.

Peter mewled, leaning into the man’s touch on his head, but fell silent when Stark continued to talk. “Okay… what, uhm, what are they?” He asked, his eyes still wide and shining. He moved his arms from around Stark’s neck to play with his labcoat again, his pink tongue poking out between equally pink lips as he fiddled with the buttons.

”It’s therapy, so Bruce and I will be asking you some questions, okay? But, if you don’t want to talk about something, then just let us know. And if you want to stop, tell me about it and we can come back here.” Tony explained and paused a bit to let the words sink in. ”Do you have any questions before we go?”

Oh, yeah, it was therapy. Peter forgot about that. He had been so caught up in the concept of playing with Loki that he hadn’t realised that the doctors had to do their job as well. He thought about if he had any questions, but ultimately shook his head. “Nuh uh. ‘m okay.” He said quietly, still playing with the buttons on Stark’s labcoat.

”Okay, then I think we can head over.” Tony said and bounced Peter one last time to get the boy to climb off his lap. ”Don’t hesitate to ask or tell me anything, all right?” He said and stood up from his chair to look down at Peter.

Peter couldn’t contain his excitement as he hopped off of the man’s lap and grabbed Spidey from the chair he was previously sat on. “Yeah, yeah, I know… C’mon, let’s go!” He said, reaching for Stark’s hand to tug him out of the office and down the corridor in the direction of the playroom.

Tony laughed at Peter’s excitement and let himself be pulled out of his office and into the hall. ”You look excited, little one.” The doctor pointed out as they walked down the hall to the playrooms.

 “Yeah!” Peter said, almost _skipping_  down the hallway with the doctor in tow. As they made their way to the playroom, Peter got a little more nervous, but refused to let that spoil his mood. “I like playing with Loki.” He said absentmindedly, as they travelled down the corridor together.

”That’s good.” Tony smiled and stopped by the door to the right playroom. Taking out his keycard, the doctor opened the door and let Peter in. ”Hello.” Tony said with a smile to Bruce and Loki who were sat together with a bunch of legos on the floor.

Peter went in first, but paused as soon as he stepped in. Loki wasn’t looking at him, rather at the Legos on the floor, but Peter could instantly tell that the boy was in deep littlespace. He seemed to have lost all the tension in his shoulders that he usually had, and his face was much more relaxed and expressive. For a moment, Peter completely blanked out, but then a small nudge from Stark brought him back into the room. “H-Hi, Lo...” He said, chewing on his lower lip.

”Kiddo, look who’s here.” Bruce said and patted Loki’s shoulder to catch his attention. Lifting his head up, Loki smiled widely and sprang up to hug Peter.

”Peter! Lets play with legos! Come on!” The boy exclaimed and tugged the boy over.

Peter wasn't expecting the boy to bound over to him for a hug, and so squeaked when he was almost knocked over. He glanced over at Stark momentarily, unsure of what to do, but then Loki was dragging him by the hand to sit on the floor with him and Peter couldn't do much else but follow. He placed Spidey in his lap when he sat down, and looked around at the legos that were strewn on the floor. "What'cha makin', Lo?" He asked, picking up a couple of pieces to see if he could start constructing a car.

”I’m making a house!” Loki said proudly and gestured to the green plate that he had in front of him and the walls he was building.

”That looks really good. You making anything Bruce?” Tony asked as he moved to sit next to Peter.

The other doctor laughed with a shake of his head. ”I’m helping Lo find whatever pieces he needs.”

"Oh, a house? Cool!" Peter grinned, leaning in close to look at the construction of Loki's house. "Maybe... maybe I can build a car that, uhm, that parks outside the house?" He asked, looking up at the other boy before turning to grab a couple of pieces to Lego to put them together.

”That sounds like a good idea.” Bruce said and Tony nodded in agreement and with that they all started building.

Peter beamed when Banner praised him, wiggling his toes excitedly before grabbing a couple more pieces of Lego from the box.

”So, what have you boys been up to today?” Tony started asking as he gathered some pieces for a race car.

"Uhm... I was just in my room. May gave me a... a rubix cube, so I was playin' with that." Peter said, poking his tongue out again as he carefully fastened wheels onto the small creation he was working on. "Me 'n Spidey were workin' on it together."

”I've cracked one before!” Loki said and pointed for Bruce to find more blocks for him.

”How long did it take you to finish it?” Bruce asked as he searched through the box.

”Just a day.” Loki grinned.

"Woah..." Peter gasped, clearly impressed. "I've never finished one... The one I'm doing now has taken me aaages 'n I still can't finish it." He grumbled, jutting his lower lip out into a pout. "Can I have that one, D-Duh..." Peter pointed at a block of Lego that was across the floor from him. He was about to call Stark Daddy, but the other two people in the room made him suddenly nervous to say it.

Tony lifted his head up at his title almost being uttered by Peter. He could press the boy, but he let him be for now considering how he had never done joint age regression with another patient before. “This one?“ The doctor asked and picked up the block that Peter was pointing at to hand it to him.

“They’re super easy.” Loki said with a carefree shrug and continued to build with the blocks that Bruce had found for him.

Peter frowned at Loki’s comment, but thanked Doctor Stark quietly for the block regardless. “I think you’re just smarter than me, Lo.” He said, holding his car up to see how the construction was going. He wordlessly passed it over to Stark so that he could add some stuff too, and Peter took the time to quietly stroke at Spidey’s fur.

Bruce and Tony shared a look. They had discussed the possibility of Loki's littlespace personality to override Peter and make him more quiet and closed off. However, they knew how to handle it. ”What do you mean you need my help?” Tony said as he took the car from Peter. ”You're much better at building than me.” The doctor said and passed the car back to Peter.

Bruce chimed in as well. ”Stark's told me a lot about how amazing you are at building cars, Peter. I can't wait to see how it turns out.”

Peter blinked again, and took the car back. “Y-You said that?” He asked Doctor Stark in disbelief. He then looked over at Banner with wide eyes. “He really said I was… I was good at it?” He asked, glancing between the car in his hands and the two doctors. He didn’t say anything else after that, but it was clear to see he was building with renewed vigour. He occasionally poked the boy beside him to get giggles out of him, and his momentary bad mood was forgotten about.

”Yes, I did.” Tony smiled and rubbed the boy's back, shooting Bruce a wink as their trick had worked and reminded Peter of his abilities.

”No, Pete, stop!” Loki giggled and poked the boy back to get revenge.

Peter squirmed where he sat when he felt Stark’s hand on his back, and if it was just the two of them, maybe he’d clamber up into Stark’s lap and demand more touches. He was soon distracted from those thoughts by Loki poking him back, and the exchange devolved into some sort of tickle fight, the two boys unable to control their laughter as they play-fought.

The two doctors put down the legos in their hands to keep an eye on the boys as they rolled around on the soft carpet.

”Take it easy, Lo.” Bruce warned, while Tony made sure that Peter didn't lose too much of the fight.

”Got you!” Loki said with triumph as he pinned Peter's arms down, hovering over him with a proud grin.

Peter squealed as he was forced onto his back, with his arms up above his head and Loki sitting on his chest. “Noooooo, noooooo!” He wailed, unable to hide his laughter as he turned his head from side to side with his curls bouncing. “Have mercy, Lo!” He squealed, trying and failing to lift his wrists up off the floor.

Loki grinned widely and stuck his tongue out at the boy beneath him. ”Nuh uh.” He said, shaking his head but froze when Bruce cleared his throat.

”Be nice, Lo. Let Peter go so you can continue playing.” The doctor instructed and the boy obeyed, getting off of Peter and letting his wrists go. ”Good boy.” Bruce praised.

”You okay, little one?” Tony asked.

Peter pulled a goofy face at the other boy when he stuck his tongue out, and quickly sat up when Loki moved off of him. He was a little flustered, but looking at Stark he nodded his head. “Mhm, ‘m fine.” He smiled, before turning back to his friend. “I’ll getcha back, Lo, you just wait.” He said, pointing at his own eyes and then at Loki’s in a ‘I’m watching you’ motion. He picked up his half-built car and examined it closely, deciding what to add next.

Loki snorted at Peter's promise and stuck his tongue out at him before turning his attention back to Bruce. ”Should there be a family living in the house?” Tony asked as he gathered a few lego figures. Some had police uniforms, some in construction worker vests while others wore casual clothes.

“Hmm… Maybe. What do you think, Lo?” Peter asked, glancing over at the boy who seemed to be fiddling with the roof on the house he was building. Meanwhile, he was adding the finishing touches to his race car, adding a little spoiler at the back and making sure that the wheels turned.

”Yeah! There has to be a family.” Loki decided and leaned over to look into the box to find all the figures.

”Why don't you help him out?” Tony suggested to Peter with a little nudge.

Peter nodded, before holding the car up. “Can you, uhm, hold this, please?” He asked, putting the car in the man’s hand. He then turned to look through the box with Loki, pulling out a figure that had brown hair. “Hey, look, this one kinda looks like me!” He giggled, showing it to the other boy.

”You aren't yellow though.” Loki laughed and glanced up at Peter before continuing to search through the box. Tony took the figure from Peter's hand for safe keeping along with his car.

”Hey, this one looks like you, Lo.” Bruce said and showed one of the figures that he had found and handed it to the raven-haired boy.

“Oh, yeah…” Peter held up his hand in front of his face to gaze at his skin colour, then dropped it to continue looking through the box. After a while, he had picked out two more figures, that looked like Doctor Banner and Doctor Stark respectively, and he showed the Stark-looking one to his Daddy, grinning.

”Is that me?” Tony asked as he took the figure and studied it. The lego did have black hair and a goatee, so they did look quite similar.

”Is that Daddy?” Loki exclaimed as he saw the figure that looked like Bruce and held it up to the doctor. ”It’s you, Daddy!” Loki said with a grin and Bruce took the figure and held it up next to his face.

”We all have our lego versions now.” The doctor chuckled.

Peter nodded, grinning. When he heard Loki calling Banner ‘Daddy’, Peter couldn’t ignore the relief he felt. If Loki was comfortable enough to call his caregiver that, then… maybe he could do it too. “Can I have my car back now, please?” He asked. “Thank you, Daddy…” he murmured, looking the man in the eye as he did so with a knowing glance.

Tony smirked a little when Peter dared to call him by that name in front of others and felt proud of Peter, almost possessive even. But, he pushed those thoughts away and started a new topic. ”You boys have been here for a while now. Have you talked about each others goals together?” Tony asked, looking at both Peter and Loki to see their reactions.

Peter completely missed the smirk on Stark’s face, and as he fiddled with the toy car in his hands he looked over at Loki. “Uhm... no, I don’t think so.” He mumbled. “I... I wanna be well enough to able to see Ned ‘n MJ again, and... and go swimming with them.” He said, the last bit almost a whisper due to the embarrassment that was currently flooding his system. It sounded so _dumb_  when he said it out loud.

”That sounds like a really good goal.” Bruce said with a friendly smile and Tony placed a hand on the back of Peter’s neck. ”Why don’t you tell yours, kiddo?” Bruce prompted Loki who didn’t lift his gaze from the garden that he was working on.

”I- I wanna tell my dad how I feel about him.” The boy admitted, looking up at Bruce for reassurance, which Bruce gave by pulling the boy close to his side.

Peter gulped when he felt Stark’s hand on the back of his neck, and could swear he felt it squeezing possessively. He blinked a couple of times to clear his hazy thoughts and focus on his friend. “I hope you get to, Lo. You deserve to be happy.” He mumbled, offering a gentle smile in his direction.

”T-thanks.” Loki mumbled shyly, blushig a little and making himself look small as he cuddled up to Bruce.

”That was very nice of you, Peter.” Tony smiled and moved his hand to pat the boy’s head.

Peter smiled genuinely at the boy. It was kind of cute seeing Loki like this, how he was so much more expressive and vulnerable when he was regressed, and it made Peter feel more comfortable about regressing himself. “Spidey wants you to be happy too!” He said, picking up the stuffie from off the floor and wiggling it in front of Loki’s face to get a giggle out of him.

”Ahh!” Loki cried out with a laugh and took the toy from Peter. Suddenly, the boy seemed to think of something and looked up at Bruce. ”Where’s Titi-oo?” The boy asked quietly and Bruce scanned the room with his eyes.

”Looks like she’s next door. Shall I go get her for you?” The doctor asked and Loki nodded a little.

”Please, Daddy.”

”There’s a good boy.” The doctor praised and moved to get up and leave the room momentarily.

Peter frowned for a moment when Loki took his stuffie from him, but seeing how Spidey made Loki happy for the time being, he decided that he could deal with not holding his stuffie for a little while. Peter couldn’t resist taking Stark’s hand from his head and bringing it down towards his chest to fiddle with his fingers. “Your Daddy’s nice, Lo.” He mumbled.

”Yeah! He’s great.” Loki giggled as he studied the toy in his hands. Tony let Peter play with his hand for a while before he placed it on Peter’s waist.

”How long has it been now, Lo? Almost two years?” Tony asked and Loki nodded along and glanced up at them briefly. ”Yeah, it’s gonna be two years in a couple months. Daddy!” Loki gasped as Bruce returned with an owl stuffie in his hand.

”Look who I found looking all lonely on the bean bag.” The doctor said with a laugh and handed Loki the stuffie. The boy clutched Titi-oo close with a smile on his face.

Peter’s hand slipped down to rest on top of Stark’s, where he continued to poke at the man’s hand. If it was just the two of them, maybe the doctor’s hand would be under his hoodie on his bare skin, but for now he settled for having Stark’s hand on his clothes. When Banner came back in, Peter caught sight of the owl stuffie and recognised it from a playroom he had been in before. “Hey, they could be friends!” He grinned, watching how Loki held both of the stuffies together.

”Yeah, yeah!” Loki agreed with a grin, but then he came to a realisation. ”But, don’t owls eat bugs?” The boy asked and looked at both the doctors, but they just shrugged in response. ”My knowledge about owls’ diets is minimal.” Tony chuckled and Bruce nodded in agreement.

 “Oh, I know about birds! Titi-oo is a...” Peter paused to lean in and see what kind of bird the owl was. “She’s a barn owl, so they mainly eat mice ‘n other small animals like that! So she ‘n Spidey will get on okay, she won’t wanna eat him.” He rambled, until he realised that everyone else in the room was looking at him. He closed his mouth quickly, becoming a little flustered and embarrassed at how he had rambled.

”That’s amazing! You’re like a bird expert.” Bruce praised. ”What else do you know about owls?” The doctor asked further, but seeing that Peter was looking flustered, Tony encouraged him a little more.

”Tell us, Pete. We would all love to hear.” Tony said with an encouraging smile.

Peter opened his mouth to speak again, but then promptly shut it. He became too flustered to speak, the amount of praise overwhelming, and so he turned to hide his face in Stark’s labcoat while he waited for his blush to fade. He shook his head frantically, showing that he didn’t want to say anything else, and he brought his knees to his chest to make himself smaller.

”Oh, that’s okay, Peter.” Tony assured and guided the boy onto his lap to comfort him properly. Tony gave Bruce a look and the other doctor began asking Loki about his lego house to distract him. ”You okay, little one? Tell me what you’re feeling.” He prompted and rubbed the boy’s back.

 “I... it... people used to make fun of me... for knowing about birds ‘n stuff. They said it was lame, ‘n... they would just be mean cos they thought it was dumb.” He said. “They’d make fun of me for everything.” Peter mumbled, looking down at his lap to avoid looking at the Doctor. “So I never like talking about... what I like, in case people make fun.”

”That was not nice of them at all.” Tony said with a sympathetic face. ”It is completely understandable how that upset you and made you reluctant to talk about birds, little one.” The doctor explained. ”But, no one is making fun of you here, okay? You can talk about birds as much as you want. It would be a shame to let all that knowledge go to waste.” Tony said and pinched Peter’s cheek to get him to smile.

Peter looked a little doubtful, but when Stark’s hand came towards his face to pinch his cheek, he couldn’t resist giggling and trying to bat the man’s hand away. He wriggled in the doctor’s lap to try and resist having his face squished, but soon stopped and let the man pinch his cheek. “Thanks, Daddy.” He murmured, quickly hugging the man around the neck. He desperately wanted to give him kisses all over his face, but even regressed-Peter knew that wasn’t a good idea. He settled for snuggling against his Daddy as much as possible, before shuffling away and rejoining Loki and Banner as they built the little garden around their Lego house.

Tony felt something tighten in his chest when the boy shuffled away from his embrace, but he didn’t let his hurt show on his face at all. ”Daddy, need two more green.” Loki said and showed his nearly finished tree. While Bruce searched for the pieces, Loki showed of what he had built in the garden. ”That’s bushes and that’s flowers. Oh! You could make a bench, Peter.” The boy suggested with a wide smile.

Peter tilted his head with interest as Loki explained the garden, and then nodded when the other boy made the suggestion of building a bench. “Yeah, I could do that. I neeeeeed... some brown pieces...” He mumbled, checking through the box to see what he could find. Every so often he glanced over at Stark and smiled, like he was wordlessly making sure the man was alright.

”A bench, huh? So that the family can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine?” Tony suggested and moved closer to see if he could help Peter find the right pieces.

”Lo’s gotta be careful in the sunshine though. You burn so easily, don’t you?” Bruce teased with a laugh and ruffled Loki’s dark hair.

”No, I don’t, Daddy!” The boy giggled, even though he knew he did.

Peter saw that Stark was leaning over to help, so he dragged the box a little closer to him with a quick smile to match. As they searched through the box together, Peter heard what Banner and Loki were saying and laughed along. “It’s okay, Lo, I burn too sometimes. I usually tan afterwards but it’s all really red and painful to begin with.” He said, pouting as he thought about the time he and Ned had gone to the beach without wearing sunscreen and ended up getting fried.

”You’re always tan, Uncle Tony!” Loki said and pointed at Tony. ”You never burn. Why?” The boy asked and frowned as he studied the older man.

Tony chuckled before answering. ”I blame it on my Italian decent. I was lucky and got tanner skin.” The doctor explained and rubbed at his goatee, shooting Peter a wink.

Peter also turned to look at Stark, intrigued to know. When the doctor winked at him with a hand on his beard, Peter instantly became flustered, a soft pink blush blooming on his cheeks and travelling up to the tips of his ears. He turned back around, suddenly very interested in the bench he was constructing, even though he could almost _feel_  Stark’s gaze on him.

Tony smirked just a bit at Peter’s flustered reaction and placed a hand on his back to rub up and down. ”Is the garden almost ready? What about some fences?” Tony suggested and Loki perked up again and began searching through the box. ”You want to place your car in the driveway, little one?” The doctor asked quietly into Peter’s ear.

Peter watched Loki as he rummaged through the box, but his mind was elsewhere as he focused on Stark’s large hand rubbing up and down his back in soothing motions. He shivered when the doctor leaned in to speak quietly into his ear, and the initial shiver was immediately followed by embarrassment because _Stark would have felt his shudder with his hand on his back_. He placed the car carefully in the driveway, before leaning back and gazing at their creation.

Tony hummed at Peter’s shiver and moved his hand to the boy’s curls instead, running his fingers through them. ”That’s a brilliant car that you made, Peter. Well done.” Tony praised with a smile and turned to Bruce. ”Don’t you think so too, Bruce?”

”Oh, yes. You aren’t just a bird expert, but a car expert too.” Bruce said with a smile as he lifted up the car to study it closer before putting it back in the driveway.

Peter bit back a mewl at how nice it felt to have his hair played with, and to have fingers scraping across his scalp. “Th-Thank you.” He said politely, the blush on his face now easy to pass off as simply being flustered by the praise he was getting. “Your house looks awesome, Lo. I like the lil’ chimney.” He said, leaning in to point it out with a smile.

”Right! My dad’s summer house has a chimney like that.” Loki said as he continued to fiddle with some blocks.

”Loki, what do we say when someone says something nice.” Bruce reminded and gestured to Peter.

”T-thank you.” The raven-haired boy said with a little blush, glancing up at Peter quickly before returning his attention back to his hands.

 “Your family has a summer house? That’s so cool...” Peter said, grinning at the boy when he looked at him. He leaned over and poked the boy’s cheek again, teasing him to see if he would start a tickle fight again.

”Is just me and dad, but I don’t get to go there often, cause I’m here.” Loki explained, still very much focused on his lego creation that he was working on. ”He brings his important friends there though.” The boy added and Bruce lifted a hand to place it on the boy’s back to comfort him.

 “Huh...” Peter hummed, watching the boy carefully. “Well, maybe when we both leave, you can come hang out with me ‘n May! I’ve told her all about you, you know.” He admitted, and it was his turn to blush when Loki looked at him.

”That’s nice of you, Peter. What do you think about that, Lo?” Bruce asked the boy by his side.

”I-I’d like that...” Loki admitted quietly before he changed the subject, like always. ”We gotta get them in the house!” Loki said and put his creation aside to pick up the figure that looked like himself and set it on the bench in the garden.

Peter smiled gently at Loki’s admission. Maybe he could get his contact details, and try and become closer once they had both left this place. He was brought out of his train of thought by Loki’s sudden change of topic, and Peter followed suit, grabbing his own lookalike and standing him up on the grass, by the driveway.

”Daddy, you’ll sit with me!” Loki said and took the Bruce-look alike and set him next to his own on the bench.

”You wanna put me somewhere, Pete?” Tony asked and offered his look alike figure to the boy.

Peter took the Stark figure and hummed thoughtfully, thinking about where to put him. He settled for putting him next to his own lookalike, and very subtly inched the hands of both figures to look like they were holding hands. He was careful to not let Loki and Banner notice, and he sat back with a fond smile on his face as he looked at the creation.

Tony saw how Peter had placed his own figure and smiled fondly at the sight. Grabbing the boy around his waist, the doctor moved Peter onto his lap and held him close so that his back was pressed against his chest. ”Such a good and clever and pretty boy.” Tony said and rubbed at Peter’s stomach.

Peter squealed when he was suddenly pulled back into Stark’s lap. He squirmed so that he was properly sat with his back against the doctor’s chest, but began to giggle when he rubbed at the boy’s stomach. “Daddy, s-stop! You know I’m t-ticklish...!” He said, trying to stop the movements of his hands on Peter’s stomach. Peter was getting flustered for about 50 different reasons, and his face burned up again as compliments were murmured to him.

”Oh, I know.” Tony laughed and continued to tickle Peter just a bit before continuing to rub gently. Seeing that their session was almost over, Bruce gave Tony a look.

”Our times almost up I’m afraid.” Bruce said and mimicked Loki’s sound when the boy groaned in protest.

”Can we save the house?” Loki asked and Bruce nodded.

”How was it to play with Loki and Bruce, Peter? What do you think?” Tony asked and looked down at the boy.

Peter cried out when Stark continued to tickle him, but then calmed down once he went back to rubbing the boy’s stomach. He made a similar noise of protest when Banner said that their time was almost up. “I had fun! Can we... can we do it again?” He asked hopefully, turning to Stark with his huge puppy dog eyes. He knew that he was exaggerating them for effect, but ever since Loki pointed it out, he found that it was very useful as a skill.

”Bruce and I will have to discuss that first, so we won’t make any promises.” Tony said and made an apologetic face. Loki was more familiar with the drill and instead continued to build as much with the legos as possible before Bruce dragged him out of the room.

Peter whined at that, but there was nothing he could do. When Loki left, Peter waved after him. “Bye, Lo!” He said, before turning back to Stark and instantly snuggling as close to him as possible. “That was fun, Daddy...” he mumbled, not kissing him just yet in case Banner or Loki came back in.

”See ya, Peter.” Loki waved back with a grin and the doctors nodded at each other.

Once they were alone, Tony bounced Peter on his lap. ”Yeah, you think so? Tell me more.” The doctor prompted and ran his fingers through the boy’s hair again.

 “Mhm, I liked... liked playing with Loki like this. Makes me feel better about bein’, uhm, bein’ little. And B-Banner was nice as well.” He said, purring at the sensation of having his hair played with. He tentatively placed a kiss to the man’s cheek, pausing afterwards in case someone walked in.

”That’s good to hear.” Tony said and smiled when Peter kissed his cheek. ”Like I said though, Banner and I have to discuss if we think we should do this again. It is therapy after all.” The doctor reminded and placed a kiss on the boy’s temple.

Peter nodded, but giggled when Stark kissed his temple. “Want more kisses…” he mumbled, leaning in to try and kiss at the corner of the man’s mouth. His hand came up to try and touch the man’s beard as well, running his fingers through the coarse hair and giggling at how it felt on his fingertips.

”Yeah?” Tony teased with a smirk before turning his head to kiss the boy on the mouth. ”Aren’t you the sweetest?” The doctor murmured and moved his other hand up to grasp the boy’s chin and tilt his head to kiss him deeper.

The boy pouted at Stark’s teasing tone, but his pout quickly fell off his face when the doctor finally kissed him.  He mewled against Stark’s lips, quickly becoming overheated in his hoodie. He desperately wanted to take it off, but he had no idea how that would look to the doctor. He let the man lead the kiss, while his hands came forward to grip at his shirt.

Tony adored it whenever the boy gripped his clothes and especially his labcoat. It made him feel important, like he was making a difference in the boy’s life. Perhaps even saving it. Giving the boy one final kiss, the doctor pulled away a little to look him in the eye. ”We can’t stay here for too long...” He said quietly, stroking the boy’s cheek with his thumb.

Peter whined when Stark pulled away from him, and would’ve chased him for kisses if it weren’t for the hand that came up to hold his face. Instead, he leaned into the touch, and watched the doctor with his large puppy dog eyes. “Wanted to kiss you so much in therapy, Daddy…”

”I know, little one, but you were so good for not doing it.” Tony said and kissed the boy’s nose before adding. ”Because this is our secret, yeah? No one can know about this.” He said a little sternly. Patients could be unpredictable in their little headspaces, but Tony figured Peter would still keep their secret as he was eager to please others.

Peter nodded, his brown curls bouncing on his head, and offered the man a shy smile. “Special secret.” He mumbled, looking down at his hands and making sweater paws out of the hems of his hoodie sleeves. He was a little downtrodden about it, but he knew that it wouldn’t be safe for either of them if he told anybody. “Won’t tell, wanna be Daddy’s good boy.” He said, perking up a little and raising his sweater paws to squish at the man’s face.

”Yeah, that’s Daddy’s good boy.” Tony confirmed and let the boy squish his cheeks, pressing his forehead against Peter’s. Giving the boy’s nose a kiss again, the doctor pulled back and took the boy’s hands into his own. ”You hungry, little one? It’s almost lunch time now.”

Peter’s face split into a toothy grin when the man praised him. There was something about Stark’s baritone voice that made praise sound so much _better_ , and it made him want to melt. He nodded when Stark asked about food. “Yeah, I wanna eat!” He said, hopping off of Stark’s lap and tugging him by the hand so that he stood up. He stretched out, his limbs a little sore after being sat down for so long.

Tony groaned a little when Peter tugged him up as well and he straightened his labcoat. ”I’ll get one of the nurses to sit with you while you eat and age up a bit, okay?” The doctor said, but didn’t leave much room for argument as he ushered the boy out of the room and into the hall.

Peter huffed, but didn’t argue as he was pushed out into the hall. He started to head to the canteen, clutching Spidey in one hand while the other was shoved into his hoodie pocket. He whistled to himself as he walked, his head in the clouds as he entered the canteen.


	31. 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki make a bet.

Peter got his lunch, a jacket potato with cheese and salad, and headed to sit down at his usual table.

Fetching his own tray of food, Loki went to sit with Peter after spotting him. ”Hey.” He greeted simply, a smile tugging on his lips as he moved to sit next to Peter.

Peter was still a little regressed, but tried his best to stay focussed when Loki came and sat by him. “What’s up, greaseball?” He asked, splitting the jacket potato to let some of the heat out. “You look happy. Or very smug. I can’t tell.” He teased, tilting his head as he pretended to try and gauge Loki’s expression.

”Whatever.” Loki laughed and split his own potato. He was tired from the therapy, but still enjoyed Peter’s company so he sat with him.

After a moment, Bucky came over to sit with them. ”How are you boys doing?” The nurse asked with a friendly smile. He had gotten instructions from both of the boys’ doctors to keep an eye on them.

Peter grinned at the boy, before glancing up when Bucky came and sat down. “Oh, hey Buck.” He said casually, blowing on his food to cool it down. “We’re alright. We just, uh, just did joint therapy.” He didn’t specify the “age regression” part, though all of them were thinking it. “Banner’s nice.” He added, now speaking to Loki.

”Yeah, he’s all right.” Loki said with a little smile, not too keen on opening up to the nurse. ”Rhodes is the worst though.” Loki said, going back to his snappy and ruthless nature.

”Loki, that’s not nice.” Bucky chuckled, but didn’t argue further as he knew that the boy had a poor experience with the mentioned doctor in the past and didn’t want to bring it up in the canteen for all to hear.

Peter blinked a couple of times. He’d never met Rhodes before, and had no idea what he was like, but maybe he’d have to stay away from him a little bit. “Awh, lighten up, greaseball.” He said, poking at Loki’s cheek with the back of his fork. He knew that Loki wasn’t going to be in his happier moods because the nurse was with him, but he couldn’t resist teasing him a little bit.

”Stop!” Loki giggled a little, but his patience was not what it usually is in his littlespace so he shooed the boy’s hand away.

”Eat up, boys.” Bucky said with a smile and moved to stand up. He figured the two patients were aged up enough to be left alone, so he walked over to join Thor by the wall.

Peter grinned, but moved his hand and fork back to his own plate, and started to eat the now-cooled potato. He avoided the salad for the most part, but ate fairly quickly as he was starving after the therapy. “Did you, uhm, did you enjoy the… the therapy today?” He asked, glancing at Loki out of the corner of his eye. He also noticed that Thor was stood nearby, which made him want to point the nurse out to Loki, but resisted.

”Yeah, I liked it. I’m just... really tired from it.” Loki chuckled tiredly before taking another forkful of food into his mouth. ”What about you?” The boy asked, glancing up at Peter by his side quickly.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I liked it too.” He smiled genuinely at the raven-haired boy, watching him eat slowly but surely while three quarters of Peter’s plate of food was finished. “’m not used to calling Stark… you know. _That_. In front of other people.” He said, blushing profusely at the title and how he was initially hesitant to try it.

Loki chuckled a little and played with the fork in his mouth as he grinned at Peter. ”You mean Daddy?” The boy said aloud with no embarrassment, but very much keen to get Peter flustered and embarrassed.

Peter groaned at that. “Do you really have to… Yes, that!” He said, covering his face with his hands but peeking through his fingers at the other patient. “You’re a real dipshit.” He said, feeling himself becoming more and more flustered with each second that passed.

”Sure, sure.” Loki shrugged with a laugh and took another bite of his food. ”I saw how flustered you got whenever Stark praised you. Real cute.” The boy teased with a grin and shoved at Peter to make him uncover his face.

Peter unwillingly moved his hands away from his face, revealing the bright red blush that had now completely taken control of his cheeks. “It’s not like I can help it! I… _ugh_ , fuck.” He said, turning to put his forehead on the cool canteen table. “It’s just the way he says it, it’s…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence before he was lifting his head up off the table to cover his face again.

”Love sick puppy.” Loki commented simply and let Peter have his little meltdown while he continued to eat. ”That’s your diagnosis.” The boy added with a chuckle.

“And you’re a smartass.” Peter bit back, but with no real malice behind it. “God, do you think he sees me like that as well? Like a… like a lovesick puppy?” He asked, turning to look at the boy with his food now completely forgotten about.

”Definitely.” Loki replied quickly. ”I mean, you’re practically drooling all over him with your eyes shaped like hearts when you look at him.” The boy pointed out with a smirk.

“Hey! I don’t _drool_ , okay?” He huffed, glaring at the boy who was now laughing at him. “’s not my fault he’s handsome… and pretty, and… funny, and…” Peter sighed, resting his chin on his folded arms on the table as he watched Loki eat. “Okay, maybe I am a little lovesick.”

”Lovesick and Daddy’s good boy, that’s who you are.” Loki said and shoved Peter’s shoulder. ”Yes, Daddy, please, Daddy. I’ll be good, Daddy, promise.” Loki teased with a sing song voice.

Peter sent a death glare in Loki’s direction, ignoring how the phrase “Daddy’s good boy” caused a stirring in his stomach. His eyebrows were furrowed and he rolled his eyes when Loki pretended to imitate him. “I’m not _always_  good. I can be bad too, you know. I… He doesn’t control me _that_  much, greaseball.”

Loki hummed like he believed what Peter was saying. ”Sure, sure. You only managed to misbehave because I was with you.” The boy said, referring to when they had broken into Stark’s office. ”You don’t know shit about being a brat to a Daddy.”

Is that what it’s called? Being a brat? Peter thought about it for a moment, before shaking his head. “And whose idea was it to break into his office to begin with, dipshit? Mine.” Peter said, like he was desperate to prove Loki wrong. “I _can_  be a… a brat. I can do it any time I want.”

”All right then.” Loki said and turned in his seat to face Peter properly. He looked him in the eye before speaking. ”I dare you to be a brat so that Stark spanks you.” The boy said. ”If you do that... You’ll have my respect. Or at least some of it.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Peter said, looking Loki dead in the eye. Most of the time, the boy’s piercing green eyes unnerved him slightly, but he had to do make eye contact right now or he wouldn’t be taken seriously. “How am I gonna… what do I do? I-“ He promptly shut his mouth at the smug grin that Loki was giving him, and the urge to wipe that smirk off his face took over. “Fine. Deal.”

”Deal.” Loki repeated and turned his attention back to his food. ”I look forward to hear how it all goes.” The boy grinned around his fork.

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Peter said, but couldn’t stop his ears turning pink from the thought of purposefully disobeying the doctor. He’d done it once before, sure, but this time it was so that he could get punished for it. He gulped nervously, falling silent as he thought about how best to go about this.

\---

”Have you thought more about the joint therapy with Loki earlier?” Tony asked during their second session of the day. They were sat facing one another in the chairs as usual and the doctor had a notepad in his lap.

Peter hummed, thinking it over. “Yeah. I sat with him for lunch today. We talked about it and, uhm, we both found it really good.” Suddenly, the deal that they had made hit him like a truck. Shit. He was… he was supposed to be a brat. That could wait til later though, he decided, as he focussed back on the doctor.

”You found it good. Tell me more.” Tony prompted. He had already discussed his observations from the session with Bruce, but he had to also consider Peter’s perspective on his own therapy.

“I dunno. I mean, it was… surprising to see Loki act like that, cos usually he’s really… different, you know? But, like, once I got used to him ‘n and got used to Banner being there ‘n everything, I kinda relaxed and I didn’t really feel self-conscious or anything. Not until the bird thing, anyway.” He mumbled, looking down at his hands.

Tony nodded as he listened. ”You were surprised by Loki’s behaviour. What avout your own? Any surprises there?” The doctor asked, hoping to make Peter more aware of his own feelings and how he reacts to things.

“Uhm... I dunno. ‘m glad that Loki said Duh... D-Daddy, first, cos then I didn’t feel weird about saying it in front of him.” He admitted, stuttering a little bit on the title as he overcame the nerves to say it.

Tony hummed as he thought to himself. It wasn’t uncommon for patients in regression therapy to feel embarrassed now and then. ”Why does it feel weird?” The doctor asked, even though he expected to not get much out of the boy, considering how ‘Daddy’ was sat right across him. Still, he wanted to see if Peter dared to.

Peter squirmed awkwardly in his seat. “It… It’s nothing.” He mumbled, definitely  not looking Stark in the face any more as his cheeks began to heat up. “’m just not used to… saying it in front of other people.” He said vaguely.

”You seem flustered, so that makes me think it’s more than just not being used to saying it. Is that correct?” Tony asks, watching Peter’s body language carefully.

 “Sh-Shut up!” The outcry came from nowhere, and Peter’s head whipped up to look at the Doctor, terrified. He didn’t know what came over him, but he didn’t want to talk about how the title made him feel. He began trembling ever so slightly, fearful that the doctor was going to snap at him.

Tony raised his brows just a fraction and Peter’s outburst before talking to him calmly. ”Peter, I see that you are upset, and that is okay, but I do not appreciate snapping nor shouting. If you wish to talk about something else, then just tell me so.” The doctor could see that Peter was shaken up, but he still needed to set some boundaries for how he expects his patients to behave in therapy.

Oh God. This was even worse than having Stark shout at him. He felt like he could hear disappointment in the man’s voice, and he shuffled awkwardly on the chair before speaking again. “I-I’m sorry.” He said quietly, inwardly cursing himself. How was he ever going to be a brat if he just continued to roll over and show his belly in defeat at the first sign of trouble?

”Apology accepted.” Tony said with a little smile, but Peter didn’t see it as he had his eyes cast down. The doctor hoped the boy could at least hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. ”Now, tell me what got you upset.” The doctor prompted, not afraid to back Peter into a corner, as it was all for his own good.

“I, uhm... it’s just... when we were at the therapy, it... I was nervous about saying it out loud in front of other people, cos...” Peter paused, trying to think of how best to phrase it. “It can mean different things to... to different people.” He said, his face burning up and the tips of his ears turning a bright red. There was no way he was going to look at Stark right now.

”What do you think it means to other people?” Tony asked, sensing where the conversation was going, but he was not afraid to go there.

Oh _God_. Peter covered his face with his hands, pulling at his cheeks as he despaired over whether to just bite the bullet and say it clearly or not. “It... they use it differently. Some people, they, uhm... I use... I mean _they_  use, I’m not, uhm, I’m a... anyway, they use it in a... you know. A s-sexual sense.” Peter was now just praying for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. That would be less painful than this conversation, he thought to himself.

While Peter was covering his face, Tony let a hint of a smirk show on his face. ”Yes?” The doctor nodded, prompting for Peter to continue.

Peter squirmed on the seat again. “S-Some people call their partners... _that_ , in b-bed. I-I’ve never... done anything, so I don’t, uhm, I don’t... it just kinda stuck in the back of my head, I guess.” He mumbled randomly, his voice muffled with how he insisted on having his hands covering his face to avoid looking Doctor Stark in the eye.

”I see.” Tony said with a nod, as if he had heard it for the first time, even though he was very much familiar with what Peter had just told him. ”So, what do you think about when you call me ’Daddy’?” The doctor asked blunty and felt a deep sense of satisfaction at seeing Peter squirm.

Nope. Nuh uh. This wasn’t happening. God, Loki would have a fucking field day if he ever found out that they were having this conversation. “Uhm. Sometimes it’s... it’s just, uhm, normal. Like a normal thing to do, when ‘m regressed ‘n stuff. Other times...” Peter trailed off, finding himself overheating in his hoodie. Fuck, this was embarrassing.

”Other times...” Tony repeated. He would never admit it, but he was enjoying seeing Peter like this. Perhaps that made him sadistic, he didn’t know, or just a really good psychiatrist.

Peter bit down on his lip to stop a whimper from escaping him. Why did he feel like he was being interrogated? “Other times, I t-think about it se-sexually. Calling you D-Daddy like that, a-and...” Peter completely lost the power of speech at that point, now at the point of being so flustered he could no longer form words.

”And?” Tony prompted again for Peter to continue. The doctor didn’t look bothered in the slightest and remained relaxed in his seat, with one knee over the other and his hands in his lap.

 “I can’t believe you’re making me say this.” Peter whined. He dared to poke his head up to look at the Doctor, and became even more flustered when he realised that the man... wasn’t. He looked quite relaxed, with an indescribable expression on his face. “Don’t make me say it.” He pleaded weakly, bringing his knees up to his chest.

”Tell me, Peter.” Tony said with a little smirk at Peter’s plea. ”Remember, you can tell me anything and everything.” The doctor reminded, hoping the reminder would bring the boy some reassurance and make him spill out his deepest and darkest desires.

Peter glared at the man, this time noticing the smirk on his face. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about saying the truth, when he and Doctor Stark had spent most of their time over the last couple of days making out on Stark’s couch. “I think about calling you... D-Daddy, in, uhm... in suh-sexual situations. I t-think about it a lot.” He admitted, his cheeks flaring red.

”Does that excite you, Peter?” Tony asked to dig deeper. He had had the same thoughts as well, but still he felt like he could separate work from his private life and did not miss Peter when he slept in his own bed at night, knowing that the boy was safe at the facility and would not be able to leave.

Peter shivered. “Y-Yes, sir.” He never called the man ‘sir’, but in that moment it just slipped out. He was so glad that his knees were by his chest, effectively hiding his crotch from view, but also hiding his face. “I-I’m sorry! I know it’s wrong. I know it is, I...” He blabbered, trembling more and more as he spoke.

”There’s no need to apologise.” Tony assured with a shake of his head. ”But, uhm... You’re almost correct, hat our relationship is not- well, conventional.” The doctor admitted. It felt odd to say something that involved him personally in that way and he cleared his throat before continuing. ”Would you like to end our doctor-patient relationship?” Tony had to ask the question, even though the idea of losing Peter hurt him. He had violated enough guidelines already and he wasn’t going to force Peter to continue being under his care if the boy felt that it was wrong.

 “Wh-What?” Peter blinked, cold flooding his system as he looked the Doctor in the eye. “No, no, I don’t. Please, I want... I want to stay with you.” He said, now becoming a little panicked. Was Stark going to end this? Was he going to kick Peter out to the curb, having finally had enough of him like everyone else had? He was hurt, but he was careful to see what Stark would say next.

”Okay, then we won’t.” Tony said, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a smile. To be honest, he was relieved to hear that, but Peter still seemed uneasy. ”I just had to ask because I got the impression that you felt like- this” The doctor said and gestured to the space between them. ”That you found it weird.” Peter still seemed worked up, Tony patted his knee to signal to the boy to come sit on his lap. ”Did I frighten you, little one?”

Peter took the invitation immediately, scrambling to sit on the man’s lap and wrapping his arms around his neck. “I only said it was weird cos... I thought _you_  would find it weird. That I... think about you like that, and I, uhm, think about calling you D-Daddy in that way.” He mumbled, looking down and away from Stark’s face. He removed his hands from around Stark’s neck to hide his crotch, pulling the hem of his hoodie down as low as it could go. “I didn’t wanna scare you off.”

”That’s okay, little one.” Tony comforted, wrapping his arms around the boy and rubbing his back. ”I actually like it.” The doctor admitted with a chuckle and kissed the boy’s blushing cheek when he squirmed on his lap.

 “You... You do?” He asked in disbelief, shivering a little bit as he felt Stark’s hand rubbing up and down his back. He whined when Stark kissed him, trying to push at his face to push him away playfully. “I’ve never, uhm...” How the fuck was he going to explain that he was a virgin? The doctor would probably laugh at him, insist that he doesn’t know what he likes because he hasn’t had any ' _experience'_.

”What, Peter?” Tony asked, even though he could guess what the meant. Still, he remained professional by not making assumptions and letting his patient explain himself in his own words.

 “I’ve never... I’m, uhm, I’m a virgin.” He said, his cheeks _burning_  with embarrassment and humiliation. His gaze was firmly fixed to the floor, and he huffed as he tried not to seem too embarrassed.

”Hey, that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Tony assured and bounced the boy on his lap with an easy going smile. He wanted to add that he would never pressure Peter into doing something sexual that he did not want to, but that would also imply that their relationship was getting more serious and he wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of that idea himself. Although, he had already implied so by saying he liked the idea of Peter calling him Daddy in a sexual sense. Fuck, this boy was making his tongue far too lose.

Peter couldn’t help smiling when Stark bounced him on his lap. He could almost _see_  the cogs turning in the doctor’s head when he fell silent, but Peter decided to leave him be with his thoughts for a minute. He gazed down at his hands, then back up at the Doctor, and quickly leaned in to kiss him on the cheek in the hopes of pulling him out of his stupor.

”For God’s sake...” Tony groaned out and cupped both the boy’s cheeks to pull him into a kiss. His mind became blissfully empty when his lips touched Peter’s and everything just felt right in that moment. Just for now, he had no worries about the morals of his therapy with the boy.

Peter giggled at the man’s groan and happily leaned in for the kiss. Instantly, his hands were on the man’s chest, feeling up and down his smart shirt and gripping the fabric in his hands. He whimpered into the man’s mouth, desperate to kiss him until he ran out of air. When they broke for air, he stood up and quickly made his way over to the couch, glancing at the doctor behind him. “More space.” He explained, a cheeky grin on his face.

”Eager, little thing...” Tony chuckled and stood up from his seat to join Peter on the sofa, placing a hand on his chest to push him back. The doctor towered over his patient and with his hands on either side of the boy’s head, he lowered down to kiss him sweetly.

Peter grinned back, squeaking in surprise when he was pushed so that he was lying back on the couch with Stark towering over him. He gulped, the power play as clear as anything, before obediently parting his lips to let the man kiss him. He tried to hold himself up on his elbows so that Stark didn’t have to lean down so far, but soon he was flat against the sofa seat with Stark kneeling between his legs. “F-Fuck...” he whimpered, all the air leaving his chest as he gazed up at the Doctor. “Want you closer...” he mumbled, trying to tug the man closer to him by his tie.

”I’m here...” Tony murmured, wrapping his arms under the boy to lift him up so that their chests were pressed together. ”Daddy’s here...” He added in between kisses on the boy’s mouth.

Peter gasped as he was pressed up against the man’s chest, and he hit solid muscle. Oh _God_ , he was more toned then Peter first thought, he could feel it under the fabric of the shirt. “D-Daddy...” he whimpered pathetically. “H-Hearing you call yourself t-that... it’s so... so h-hot...” He stammered, but suddenly Loki’s jeering voice resonated inside his head, teases of “Yes, Daddy, I’ll be good!” making him distracted.

”Yeah?” Tony grinned, tilting the boy’s head back to kiss the boy’s neck, but not hard enough to leave marks, just to cherish him. ”Does that make you all excited?” He asked in a murmur.

Peter cried out with want as Stark began to kiss up and down the column of his neck, and the boy’s hips rocked upwards involuntarily. The tone of the man’s voice was on the right side of condescending and it made Peter keen, barely able to breathe. “Y-Yes, fuck!” He swore loudly when Stark kissed the sensitive bit of skin up by his jawline.

”Hey, what’s Daddy said about swearing, hm?” Tony reminded with a gentle bite to the boy’s neck. ”I don’t tolerate such foul language from you.” The doctor added, pulling back to look the by in the eye.

Peter gulped. He was about to apologise so that they could go back to kissing, but then Loki’s teasing pushed him in another direction. “What’re you gonna do, _spank_  me over it?” He said, a cheeky grin on his face and mischief in his eyes as he gazed up at the man who towered over him.

Tony’s narrowed his eyes at the boy and he debated which approach he should take to Peter’s sudden bratty attitude. He chose the psychiatric approach. ”That tone makes me think you want to be spanked for it. Is that correct, Peter?”

Oh. The man’s professional tone of voice shouldn’t have made him this hot under the collar about the possibility of being spanked. “Uhm, maybe. Yes. Please?” He asked, squirming on the sofa cushion as he felt Stark’s gaze on him:

”Tell me why.” Tony asked, lifting the boy onto his lap and enjoying the little yelp he let out and how his hands came up to his shoulders.

Peter squealed as he was suddenly lifted onto Stark’s lap and was moved into place. “I dunno, I just... I feel like I trust you enough and, uhm, sometimes I really want it. I feel like it could be, like, good at letting my emotions out? I dunno.” He rambled, his eyes darting all over the place.

”You think so, little one?” Tony teased a little, using the Daddy approach now as he kissed the boy’s neck again. He was pleased to hear Peter saying that he trusted him, and now that the boy had mentioned it, the doctor couldn’t wait to bend him over his knee.

 “Ngh...” Peter choked out a gasp as Stark began kissing his neck again. He rolled his shoulders back and tilted his head to expose more of his throat and neck. “Uh huh... want Daddy to... to spank me when ‘m bad.” He said, his voice wavering and almost failing him when he felt the doctor’s lips press against his neck.

Humming against Peter’s trembling throat, Tony kissed him a few more times before pulling back to look at him. ”I think we can arrange that. But, there are some rules that we have to agree on first.” He said and tapped the boy’s nose with his finger to get his attention.

Peter huffed when he was brought out of his aroused haze by a sudden tap on the nose. He blinked owlishly, dropping his head to look the doctor in the eye. “You and your _rules_...” he rolled his eyes playfully, with a smirk tugging at his lips, but nodded regardless. “What are they?

”First of all, you need to ask me explicitly for a spanking when you feel like you need it, no matter how embarrassing that may be.” Tony explained and paused to let Peter consider his words before continuing with his second point. ”If you cannot ask me, then I predict that you will behave poorly on purpose to get my attention. That is okay too, but I will allow you one warning and if you still choose to continue your poor behaviour, I will spank you.”

 “Okay...” Peter hummed, thinking it through. Loki’s dare was still rattling around his head. So if he was a brat on purpose, Stark would give him a warning, and then a spanking. Peter could deal with that, right? The asking thing was... odd, and he knew that he would be embarrassed by it, but it made sense as a cathartic release. “Yup, makes sense.”

”And most importantly, you need to pick a safeword.” Tony said and when the boy pulled a puzzled expression, the doctor explained. ”It is a random word that we agree on beforehand and if you ever feel uncomfortable or want the spanking to stop, then you can use your safeword and I will stop immediately no matter what.”

Peter was initially confused, but when Stark explained it, he nodded in understanding. “Right... Okay. That’s... that’s cool.” He said, nodding to himself. “Will, uhm, will you make me count them? Like Loki had to?” He had probably said too much by saying that, but Stark probably knew about it already.

"If you would like me to, yes." Tony nodded with a smile. "You got any more questions?" The doctor asked, bouncing the boy on his lap to ease some of his tension.

 “Uhm... no, I don’t think so. Thanks for, uhm, being nice about it.” He mumbled, but soon began giggling when he was bounced up and down on the man’s lap. “You’re not gonna spank me _n_ _ow_ , are you? For swearing?” He said, looking slightly nervous. He didn’t know if he was ready for it right at that second, and only hoped that Stark could sense that.

”That’s my job, little one.” Tony reminded and cracked a wide smile when Peter giggled so brilliantly. The sound was music to his ears and made his heart swell. ”No, I won’t. You have to think of a safeword before that. Can you do that before we see each other again? If you can’t think of one yourself, then I’ll help you. And remember, it has to be something random that you would be odd for you to say in that context. All right?”

Peter couldn’t resist the little “Phew!” he let out when Stark said he wouldn’t spank him right now. He had to prepare himself for it. “Right, right, safeword. Yeah, I can do that.” Peter kind of already had one in mind, but maybe he’d wait until their next session to see if he wanted to stick with it. “Does that mean our times almost up?” He asked, glancing up at the clock.

”Clever boy.” Tony chuckled and ushered the boy off his lap. ”Think about what I’ve said, yeah? And then we’ll talk more about this later.” The doctor said and ran his fingers through the boy’s curls to tidy them somehow, but with little lucky.

 “Wait, wait, wait!” Peter quickly said, and when the man paused he simply leaned in and gave him a kiss on the tip of his nose, pulling back with a giggle. He stood up and held still as Stark tried (and failed) to sort out his hair, before running his own hand through it to style it randomly. “Will do, Doc.” He nodded, before sitting on his original seat to wait for the nurse to show up.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony chuckled and watched as Peter practically skipped over to his seat to give them some place between them. The doctor remained on his feet, hands in his labcoat pockets and looked out the window. They remained in comforable silence in the office until one of the nurses came to fetch the boy.

After their second session, Peter had spent the rest of the day in his room. He was steadily making his way through that Stephen King book, and occasionally he would pick up the rubix cube to have a go with it. When Rogers turned up to announce that it was dinner, he groaned but followed the man dutifully to the canteen, where he saw Loki sat by himself. He grabbed his food and sat next to him, humming a greeting as he did so.

”So, how did it go?” Loki said, cutting to the real deal right away with a smirk. ”Daddyyyyy...” He whined in mockery, elbowing Peter in his ribs, but not hard enough to hurt him. Normally, he wouldn’t care about hurting others, but he was starting to like Peter, so he did care at least a bit.

 “Jeez, not even a hello? You’re losing your charm, greaseball.” He said, his ears flaring a bright red as he poked at his food, which was spaghetti and meatballs. He grunted when Loki elbowed him, and in return slapped him lightly upside the head, also not hard enough to hurt. “It... I haven’t done it yet.” He mumbled, ignoring how Loki stared at him. “And don’t... don’t say ‘Daddy’ like that, you sound like a pornstar.”

”So do you I bet.” Loki smirked back, giggling when Peter shot him a look. ”Okay, but what did you do then?” The boy asked and took a meatball into his mouth.

Peter glared at him for that. “We just... talked about random stuff. Goals, you know? And then the... the spanking came up, cos we hadn’t really discussed it, but then we did, so... I know what to expect ‘n stuff if he does it. _When_  he does it, I mean.” He said, twirling up some spaghetti onto his fork and eating it, chewing thoughtfully.

Loki hummed as he chewed his food, but then shot Peter a wicked look. ”'When' he does it? You don’t have the balls to be a brat. Not like me, anyway.” The boy said with a smug face.

Peter rolled his eyes and slapped the boy lightly upside the head again. “I can be a brat, Lo. You just wait. I’ll blow your fuckin’ socks off, you just wait and see.” He huffed, stabbing a meatball with his fork before shoving it into his mouth. “How are you a brat? Like, what do you do to wind up Banner?”

Loki shrugged like he didn’t care much and spun his fork around to gather some pasta onto it. ”I just don’t do as he says, so then he warns me, twice, and then I still put up a fight. It feels really good, but he never actually gets angry with me, so I can just be as bratty as I want.” However, that was not the whole truth, as Loki always ended up as a sorry and sobbing mess by the fourth spank and begged Bruce, his Daddy, to stop, but he didn’t tell Peter that part.

“Huh…” Peter hummed, chewing on his pasta. “Do you think Stark would… get mad if I, like, talked back to him or something? Would that be the best way to do it?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows while deep in thought.

”Hm, probably. I don’t know the guy that well, though.” Loki said before turning to look at Peter, swinging the fork in the air. ”Not that you could do it anyway. You’re too much of a nice boy, like a teacher’s pet. You’re too desperate to please him to actually get punished.”

“I’m _not_  a teacher’s pet!” Peter growled, clenching his fork tightly. “I could get punished if I wanted to. I… I don’t want to _please_  him.” That was a lie, and both of them knew it. That was all Peter wanted, but he had to keep a straight face about this, otherwise Loki would tease him until the end of time.

Loki didn’t even bother arguing back, as they both heard how Peter’s voice quivered when he uttered his lies. ”Did you sign the three, four or five weeks plan?”

“Uhm… three weeks.” Peter said, wondering how that related at all to what they were just talking about. Maybe it didn’t, and Loki was finally dropping the subject, which Peter could only be grateful for.

”And you came about two weeks ago? Then you have till you leave next week to get spanked by your Daddy.” Loki said with a smirk and laughed at how Peter’s ears practically glowed bright red.

Peter groaned, letting his head rest against the canteen table. “C-Can you _stop calling him that!_  It’s… You’re…” He _really_  didn’t want to get… excited, as Stark called it, right now, especially not when Loki was sat next to him, watching him like a hawk.

Loki just laughed in response to Peter dropping his head down. ”A genius? Master trickster? Handsome as hell?” The boy joked with a wink. Peter had got him in a good mood and he was going to cherish it for as long as it lasted.

Peter rolled his eyes and lifted his head back off the table, gazing at the boy with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, Lo, you’re all of those things. Catch me, I’m swooning from your beauty!” He said, dramatically falling forward so that the other boy had no choice but to drop his fork to grab him before he fell into him.

”Hey! Stop, you ass!” Loki laughed as he caught Peter and pushed his dead weight off himself and over the table. The boy watched Peter pretend to be dead for a minute before he fell silent. ”Uhm, I want to tell you something...” The raven-haired boy said quietly, his body language becoming more nervous than relaxed.

Peter hit the table with a ‘thunk’, closing his eyes and letting his tongue loll out as he pretended to act dead. After a couple of seconds, he sat back up again, giggling as he pushed the hair out of his eyes and faced the boy properly. His grin slowly faded and his eyebrows furrowed into a concerned expression. “Yeah? What’s up?” He asked just as softly, scooching a little closer in case Loki didn’t want to say it out loud.

Loki looked at the other boy, into deep brown eyes that only had love and kindness in them, but shook his head. "It's nothing, forget about it..." He mumbled, his confidence dissipating as quickly as it had came.

Peter blinked. “Are you sure? You can tell me, I can keep a secret! Unless you’ve killed someone. That, uh, might be harder to keep a secret. I’ll help you hide the body though!” He joked, trying to get the boy to laugh when he noticed that he was now more withdrawn and nervous. Loki wouldn’t say anything though, so Peter didn’t push it. “Hey, uh, you said you were good at rubix cubes. I still haven’t solved mine yet, do you wanna try?”

Loki’s good mood disappeared just as quickly as it had come a bit ago and he felt his shoulders slump with exhaustion. He suddenly felt overwhelmed with all of Peter’s talk and especially the suggestion of more socialisation stressed him. With slightly trembling hands, Loki rose from his seat and muttered an incoherent apology to Peter. ”I-I’m sorry, I just- I have to... Can’t...” The boy stuttered and went to leave the canteen.

Seeing the dark haired patient upset, Thor went after him while Steve went to Peter. ”What happened?”

Peter watched the boy go with wide eyes. He found himself getting slightly upset as well, as he had no idea what it was that he had done wrong. He blinked furiously before he realised that Steve was standing next to him, and he jumped. “I-I dunno, I just... He said he wanted to tell me something but then he didn’t, and so I was trying to... trying to change the conversation onto something else but maybe that stressed him out? I don’t...” He rambled, his food now completely forgotten about as he stared at the door where Loki had exited. “I dunno what I did.”

Sitting down next to Peter, Steve rubbed Peter’s shoulder. ”What has Loki told you about his condition?” The nurse asked, not wanting to tell Peter something that Loki hadn’t already told him.

“He… He said he has depression. That’s all he’s said.” Peter said, a pained look on his face. He didn’t mean to upset Loki, and he was still confused as to what had happened seeing as it had occurred so quickly. “Did… Did I overwhelm him? I didn’t mean to!”

”Depression can come with sudden mood swings, so I doubt you did anything wrong, Peter.” Steve explained to comfort the boy. ”We just have to give Loki some time and space sometimes, but don’t you worry. We are all trained professionals; we will take care of it. Finish your food, bud.” The nurse said with a pat to the boy’s back and left the table.

“Right…” Peter wasn’t convinced though, and offered no goodbye to Rogers when he got up and left. He stared at his food for some time, not touching it at all, before also getting up and leaving. He headed back to his room and slumped onto his bed, wondering what it was that he did to make Loki so upset.


	32. 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's guilt gets to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowie we've managed to update every single day for the last month! thanks to everyone who's stuck around this month. it's been a terrible month for me (richie) for personal reasons, but that was march and this is april! hope you guys enjoy these next few updates x

The next day, Peter was in his room waiting for a nurse to come get him for Stark’s session. He was still a little upset after yesterday, how he wasn’t able to determine what he had done to cause Loki to leave him in the canteen, and it had put him a little on edge. He didn’t bother talking to Barnes as he was escorted to Stark’s office, and he immediately took a seat in his usual chair, where he fiddled with the hem of his hoodie.

”Good morning?” Tony questioned rather than wished as he immediately caught onto Peter’s blue mood. The boy practically had a rain cloud hanging over his head, casting a shadow over his usually bright eyes. ”What's happened?” The doctor asked as he moved to sit opposite his patient in his usual spot.

 “Nothin’.” He said quietly, not looking up from where his hands were messing with the frayed hems on his sleeves. He was a terrible liar though, especially when he was upset, and he knew that Stark knew he was lying. “I don’t... really wanna talk about it.” He mumbled, his shoulders slumped forward.

”Why is that?” Tony asked, hoping he could get Peter to open up regardless. This wasn’t exactly his first patient who was reluctant to talk and he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

 “I just... I don’t. I think I fucked up with Loki.” He mumbled, bringing his knees up to his chest to make himself seem smaller. He didn’t say much more after that, simply gazing into the middle distance.

”Peter, watch your mouth.” Tony warned with a look, before making his expression and voice softer. ”Tell me what happened.” The doctor prompted. He had heard of Loki’s sudden mood swing during dinner from Bruce, but as Peter was his patient he was most interested in hearing Peter’s perspective.

Peter was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t even realise he had sworn until Stark had scolded him for it. He glared back at the man, before dropping his gaze back to the floor. “Me ‘n him were... we were at dinner together and, uhm, we were just talking ‘n stuff, and then he said he wanted to tell me something. I was like “okay, what’s up?” but he wouldn’t tell me what it was so I tried to change the subject but then he got really... I dunno. Maybe he was overwhelmed or something, he just said he had to leave ‘n he walked out of the canteen.” He explained.

Peter’s narration of the incident more or less matched Loki’s own, but he didn’t tell the boy that. ”And did that make you feel?” The doctor asked simply, hoping the question would lead Peter to tell his feelings and thus also become more aware of his own reactions.

 “It made me feel bad. I didn’t know what I did to... to upset him like that, cos I didn’t mean to. I was just... I was just offering for him to hang out in my room.” He mumbled, cringing at how lame it sounded. “I didn’t mean to upset him.” He repeated quietly.

”You felt bad because you didn’t mean to upset him.” Tony repeated with a nod. ”Why do you think you made him upset?” The doctor asked, although he would much rather explain why Loki acted the way he did due to his depression, but he couldn’t do that.

Peter huffed. “I don’t know. I just think that, okay? Fucks sake...” he groaned, dropping his forehead onto his kneecaps and screwing his eyes shut as waves of frustration crashed over him. Why did Stark have to ask such stupid questions all the time?

”Peter, I told you to watch your mouth. This is your warning, you hear me?” Tony said with some stern-ness now. It was just yesterday that they had discussed the spanking, but the doctor was not afraid to follow through on it so soon. After all, Peter had brought it up himself and requested it.

This could be it. This could be the moment that Peter says ‘Fuck it’ and becomes a brat. But he didn’t. Instead, he simply slumped into the chair further and offered the man brief eye contact. “‘m sorry.” He said, loud enough for the man to hear him. He hated how the steely tone of the man’s voice made him immediately concede, but what else was he going to do?

”That’s better. Now, tell me why you think you upset Loki?” Tony said with a kinder tone, but still firm enough to get Peter to talk. The boy had obviously tested him, but hadn’t found the courage to continue his bad behaviour to see what the consequences would he like. Tony hoped he found that courage soon.

 “Because... it was so sudden after I was talking, that I thought I had said something to offend him. He said he wanted to tell me something, but then he didn’t. I dunno if that was a part of it.” He mumbled, resting his chin on his knees with his arms wrapped around his legs.

”Has Loki told you about why he is here?” Tony asked. ”And have you told him why you’re here?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, we’ve told each other. He said he has depression, and I told him my... my thing.” He mumbled, finally looking up at the Doctor properly

”What did you tell him?” Tony urged on, curious to know whether he was open about his mental state to other patients at the facility.

 “I just said I have attachment and self-image issues.” Peter said, his hand coming down o pick at the loose thread on the hem of his hoodie.

”Do you think that Loki’s diagnosis could have something to do with his sudden change in mood?” Tony hinted, hoping the boy would realise and give himself some slack for what happened.

 “I... Rogers said that people with depression can have sudden mood swings, which... makes sense, but... I can’t help feeling guilty anyway.” He mumbled, slumping further into the chair.

”I see.” Tony said with a nod. ”What will you do when you see him again?” The doctor asked further.

 “I dunno. It depends on whether he wants to talk about it. If he does, then... maybe I’ll apologise, just in case. But if not then, uhm, I’ll just leave it.”

"You feel like you have a need to apologise? Is that correct?" Tony asked.

 “Yeah. I know that... that he can get mood swings, but what if I was the one to _cause_  that swing, you know?” He mumbled quietly. “I don’t like making people unhappy.”

"I hear you when you say that you don't like making people unhappy, but sometimes that is inevitable. It is the depression that is causing Loki's mood swings, Peter, not you." Tony said with a smile to get the boy to realise that he was not at fault for the unfortunate turn on events the night before.

 “I know, I know. I just... sometimes I really worry about it. Like, I know people are gonna get unhappy ‘n stuff, but I try my hardest to not let that happen. And then when it doesn’t work, it makes me feel really guilty.” Peter couldn’t return the smile that the doctor was giving him, but he felt a little more at ease.

”To me that sounds like you are scared of making people unhappy because you fear their reactions. Is that correct?” Tony said as he started to piece together in his mind what his patient was explaining. No wonder the boy is in such a bad state if he has spent most of his life tip toeing around people.

“I... Yeah. Pretty much.” Peter shrugged, resting his chin back on his knees but still watching the doctor carefully. “I can’t help it, but... yeah.”

”What do you fear will happen if you make people unhappy?” Tony asked, feeling like they were about to get somewhere and spoke with a gentler tone to not scare the boy.

 “I’m afraid... that they’ll snap at me for it. That they’ll yell at me even though I never meant to make them unhappy. Or they’ll... they’ll leave, because I’m not making them happy any more.” He said, shifting uncomfortably on the seat.

”I see.” Tony nodded. ”Has that happened? That you have been snapped at or yelled at?”

 “Yeah. Not often, but... it’s scared me enough into worrying about it all the time.” Peter scratched at his arm awkwardly as he spoke, his gaze now fixed to the floor.

”Tell me about an incident where you were snapped or yelled at.” Tony prompted, hoping to get an example of what Peter was explaining. Maybe even a name.

 “Uhm... well, the main one I can think of was with May. I think it was shortly after... after Ben died, and, uhm, I don’t even remember what happened or what was said, but... I just remember her face. And her voice. And... I was trying to make it better but everything I did seemed to just make it worse. She calmed down after a while ‘n was really sorry and everything, but... it just scared me, you know? I didn’t know she could get like that.” He mumbled, and his heart felt heavy as he recalled it.

”What did she say to you?” Tony asked, curious to know more about May and her apparent tendency to swipe uncomfortable conversations under the rug.

Peter pulled a painful grimace and shrunk further into his hoodie than before. “I... I don’t really wanna talk about it, if that’s okay.” He mumbled, clearly becoming uncomfortable and nervous about the topic of conversation.

”I understand, Peter. You’ve been very brave so far and done a really good job telling me.” Tony said with a gentle smile. ”We can continue this another time.”

 “Right...” Peter shifted in his seat again, still not looking the man in the eye. His head felt heavy like he was about to cry, but he had no intention to, so he just sat there with his legs drawn as close to him as possible while he stared at the floor.

Tony debated whether to invite Peter onto his lap, like he had done quite a few times now when the boy had gotten upset about something he had told. But that was precisely the issue, he had done it too many times, so that it was almost routine. Talk, cry, cuddle. Maybe even make out.

Peter sighed to himself, scratching the back of his head as he tried to push that particular memory of May out of his mind. Every so often he would glance up at Stark, who seemed to be watching him with an unreadable facial expression like he was deep in thought. Peter didn’t want to disturb that, so without asking he got up and made his way over to the couch so that he could lie down, facing the back of the sofa.

Well, shit. Peter had made a move that could be an invitation and if he did not take it, the doctor predicted that the boy would close up again. And they had just made some progress. Tony would have to work on making Peter more independent another time and gave it to the boy’s invitation. The doctor moved to sit next to Peter, placing a hand on his head. ”How are you feeling?”

 “Shi-...Not great.” He said, catching his mistake just in time. He didn’t move when Stark sat down by him, nor when he felt the doctor’s hand on his head and his fingers in his curls. He didn’t cry, but his mood was worse than when he came in, leaving him tired and downtrodden. The two halves of his brain were fighting, fighting over whether to stay aged up or to let himself slip into littlespace. He let out a shaky breath as his brain went to war with itself, but didn’t say anything to Stark.

When Peter fell silent for a long time, Tony asked him quietly. ”What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing, really.” He replied, shuffling a little on the sofa to get more comfortable. “‘m just tired, Daddy.” He said quietly. He didn’t mean for the title to slip out, but he couldn’t have cared less when it did.

It looked like all the energy had left Peter’s body. At first the doctor was worried about low blood sugar, but he had not gotten any reports about Peter refusing to eat. So then, he figured it was psychological and scratched at the boy’s scalp. ”Should we finish up a bit early so you can have a rest in your room?” Tony suggested.

Peter shook his head at that. “Nuh uh... wanna... wanna stay here with you.” He mumbled, finally reaching up to grab the man’s arm and pull it down so he could hold it, fiddling with his fingers again. He pressed the palm of Stark’s hand against his cheek and leaned into it, humming contentedly.

”I can sit with you till you fall asleep, yeah? Come on, you’ll be much comfier with Spidey in your own bed instead of the sofa.” Tony argued, considering how they didn’t have much time left either way and Peter couldn’t get a good rest on the sofa.

“Spidey…!” He realised he had left his beloved stuffie in his room this morning when he had left to come to the session, and instantly he felt guilt about leaving his best friend behind. “Fine…” Peter sighed, rolling off of the sofa and standing up to lead the way out of the office and back to his own room.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony said with a smile, patting the boy’s shoulder before they both left the office to head to the south wing.

Peter smiled weakly at the praise, but was too tired to have a real reaction to it. They made their way down the corridor in silence, until they reached Peter's room and the boy pushed the door open to let Stark in first. Once they were both inside, he took a seat on the bed, but didn't get under the covers just yet.

Talking about his aunt had worn Peter more down that Tony originally thought and moved to stand in front of him to run a hand through his curls. ”You wanna take off your hoodie?” The doctor asked and after Peter nodded a little, he helped the boy out of his hoodie and tried not to look at how the t-shirt he was wearing underneath was pulled up in the process and revealed the boy’s skinny stomach. Folding the hoodie on the chair, Tony crouched down to remove Peter’s sneakers. ”You sleepy, little one?”

Peter only nodded when Stark offered to take off his hoodie, lifting his arms dutifully so that the clothing could be pulled off. He mumbled a ‘thank you’ when Stark removed his sneakers, and yawned in response to his question. Once he was sure the sneakers were off, he lifted his legs onto the bed and rolled over to face the wall, not even caring that he was on top of the sheets.

”Hey, silly.” Tony chuckled and pulled the cover from under Peter to place it on top of him instead. Glancing over at the door that was still slightly ajar, the doctor leaned down to plant a quick kiss to the boy’s temple. ”Sleep tight, little one. I’ll be right here.” He assured in a whisper before moving to sit in the chair next to the boy’s bed.

Peter groaned in protest when Stark started to pull the covers from under him, but settled down once he was properly tucked into bed. He smiled to himself when he felt the doctor’s lips against his temple, and scooped Spidey up into his arms. It didn’t take long before he was fast asleep, breathing gently in and out of his mouth with his body curled up into a fetal position.

With a fond smile on his face, Tony leaned over to check that Peter was fast asleep. He kissed his temple again before leaving, more conflicted with himself than ever.

\---

Peter awoke a couple of hours later to Thor knocking on his door, announcing that it was lunchtime. He groaned, shielding his eyes from the sunlight that was now streaming through the windows as he rolled out of bed. He stood up and slipped his sneakers on, not bothering to put his hoodie back on as he left his room and headed to the canteen.

Loki was already sat in the canteen and did not make a move to fetch food for himself. He wasn’t hungry, nor did he want to be social, so he sat with his hood covering his eyes and grumbled curses at Steve who set down a tray of food in front of him. ”You have to eat something. You know what will happen if you don’t, bud.” The nurse said apologetically before leaving Loki. Seeing Peter walk into the canteen, he tapped the boy on his shoulder. ”Are you going to sit with Loki?”

“I… I don’t know.” Peter gazed over at the other boy, who was sat with his back to the entrance and his hood up. “Will he get mad at me if I do?” He asked, glancing up at Rogers who simply shrugged in response. Great, that was really helpful. He decided to bite the bullet, taking a deep breath and grabbing his tray, before joining the boy at his table. “Hiya, Lo…” He said quietly, sitting a little further away from him than usual.

”Hey...” Loki replied back, his voice just above a whisper. He looked as Peter sat down and observed him for a bit, wishing he was more like Peter. However, he didn’t say that aloud and turned his head to look out the window instead.

They sat in silence for a little bit before Peter spoke again. To be honest, he was just glad that Loki had even responded to him in the first place. “Hey, uhm, I’m really sorry about yesterday. If I, uh, if I upset you or anything, I really didn’t mean to.” He didn’t know what he had done, but maybe the apology would be enough to lift Loki’s mood a little bit.

Loki lifted his head a little when Peter started speaking, but slumped when he began apologising. He hated it so much when people did that. ”It’s not your fault...” Loki mumbled, biting his lip hard to stop it from trembling.

Peter could tell that Loki was withdrawing more and more with each second that passed, and it made him a little upset. He watched the boy for a few seconds, before biting into his sandwich and looking out of the same window that Loki had been looking out of.

Loki bounced his leg up and down with nervous energy. He felt like he was at war with himself. One side of him wanted to just run away and disappear from everything forever, while the other part wanted to stick through the meal and make some progress in his recovery. Looking at Peter by his side, Loki was reminded of the fact that he was leaving next week. The realisation made him panic and he stood up suddenly. ”I-...”

Peter was so lost in his own thoughts that the sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made him jump. He looked to see Loki stood up and staring at him with wide, panicked eyes. “Lo, you’re alright. Hey, you’re okay.” He tried to calm the boy down a little, also rising from his chair slightly. “You’re okay.”

Loki looked up at Peter with wide and frightened eyes. ”I'm not! I'm never okay! Just- leave me alone...” The boy pleaded, hanging his head low as a sob had his shoulders shaking.

Peter continued to rise until he was stood up properly, but he raised his hands up to show that he was backing off. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave you.” He mumbled, despite his gut feeling telling him to stay there and try and comfort the boy. He left his lunch where it was and left the canteen, glancing over his shoulder as he went.

Slumping back in his seat, Loki began hyperventilating and was quickly tended to and cared for Steve who alerted Banner. The boy didn’t put up a fight, but on the inside, he was beating himself up relentlessly for pushing Peter away from himself.

Peter found himself wandering the corridors, the event of Loki’s outburst running through his head on loop. He didn’t know what he felt at that point, a mixture of guilt, sadness, anxiety all pooling in his chest and making it feel like his heart had a lead weight on it. He didn’t go to his room, nor to his windowsill, instead traipsing around the halls with no purpose while his mind eroded itself with guilt for Loki’s outburst.


	33. 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter gets what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me n rafni have read your comments, but unfortunately neither of us are comfortable enough to write toilet stuff. sorry if that's what you were hoping for!

After Loki was settled on the medical ward after a forced feeding, Steve rubbed his stiff neck with a groan. He hated the few times they had to force feed a patient, but the nurse tried to comfort himself by reminding himself that it was for their own good. Steve's mood brightened considerably when he found Peter on one of the windowsills. At least some of his work gave immediate positive responses, Steve thought as he thought about how much progress the boy had made. ”Seen any birds?”

Peter had finally settled on a windowsill after twenty minutes of aimless wandering. His head was rested against the cool glass, and his eyes were gazing into the middle distance, not really paying attention at all. “Huh? Oh, Rogers. No, just pigeons.” He said quietly, making no effort to turn when the man approached him.

The nurse caught onto Peter's unusually bad mood with a frown, but let Stark deal with instead of asking him about it in the hallway. ”Doc's waiting for you.” Steve said with a little and gestured to the halls which lead to the doctors' offices.

Peter sighed, before getting up off the windowsill and following the man’s gesture down the hall. He could tell that Rogers was trailing him, but once he got to Stark’s office and knocked, the nurse was gone. He headed inside, seeing the doctor typing on his computer by his desk, and stood a little awkwardly as he waited for him to finish.

Seeing Peter enter, Tony was worried to find him still in a bad mood, perhaps an even worse one than earlier in the day. The doctor decided to leave him email half typed out and tended to Peter right away. ”Wasn't the nap any good?” Tony started and sat down in his usual seat while Peter sat in his.

Peter collapsed into his chair and didn’t say anything for a moment, his posture slumped with his shoulders hunched up by his ears. “It was fine. I just... I tried to apologise to Loki ‘n I only made things worse.” He said glumly.

”Tell me about what happened.” Tony prompted with a hand gesture towards his patient.

 “I... I went to lunch, ‘n Loki was sat by himself so I went ‘n joined him, and I tried to apologise for yesterday and he said it wasn’t my fault but then he got panicked and he stood up really suddenly so I stood up as well to try ‘n calm him down, but that didn’t work and he kinda yelled at me to leave him alone so I... did.” He rambled, the entire story coming out as one huge speech before Peter fell silent.

”He yelled at you.” Tony pointed out. ”How did that make you feel?”

Peter sighed. “Shit.” He hadn’t expected Loki to suddenly snap at him like that, and so he was still a little rattled. Realistically, he knew it wasn’t to insult him, but he was still shaken.

”Peter, language.” Tony reminded, but kept his tone gentle. ”Tell me more about how you felt.”

 “Don’t care about my language.” He said quietly. “I... It made me upset. I didn’t expect him to yell at me like that, so it made me upset, okay?”

Tony frowned just a bit at Peter’s response, but didn’t say anything about it. ”Did you feel guilty? Or embarrassed? Scared maybe?” The doctor suggested, hoping to specify Peter’s emotions better.

 “I don’t know! I just- fuck, I don’t know.” Peter said, slumping even further down the chair and sticking his hands into his hoodie pocket.

”Peter, I’m giving you a warning. If you swear again, I will take you over my knee. Understood?” Tony said firmly, but was secretly pleased that Peter was misbehaving.

Peter glared at the man, his eyes dark and brooding. “I. Don’t. Fucking. Care.” He spat, crossing his arms like a moody teenager and looking to one side. He could feel Stark’s gaze on him, drilling a hole into him, but he couldn’t care less at this point.

”All right. That’s it.” Tony said and rose from his chair to removed his labcoat, draping it on his desk chair. ”You asked for it and now you shall receive. What’s your safeword, Peter?” The doctor asked, opening the cuffs on his shirt sleeves and rolling them up to his elbows.

Instantly, Peter was afraid. He didn’t move from where he was sat, his eyes fixated on how when Stark rolled up his sleeves, he could see taut muscles in the man’s arms. He gulped. “U-Underoos.” He said, thinking back to when Loki called him that the time they had broken into Stark’s office together. His heart began to pound, creating a drumming sound in his ears.

”Okay, underoos it is. Use it whenever you want me to stop.” Tony said with a softer tone. ”Understood?” The doctor asked to be sure that Peter understood that technically he was in charge and make it all stop if he wished. But, Tony had a feeling he wouldn’t want to.

 “Y-Yeah.” Peter stood up as well, and slowly headed over to where Stark was now sat back down on his seat. He didn’t make the final move to get over his lap, /that/ would be too embarrassing. Also, Loki’s dare to be a brat lingered in his mind, and he intended to try it for as long as possible.

”We will start easy with ten spanks. Come on, it’s okay.” Tony said and grasped the boy’s wrist to get him to bend over his knee. Arranging the boy comfortably, the doctor placed one leg over Peter’s to stop him in case he kicked. He placed a steady hand on the boy’s lower back and the other on his neck. ”Are you ready?”

Peter yelped when he was pulled forward and arranged into position. He let out a shaky breath when Stark’s large hand fit around the back of his neck. “Y-Yes, sir.” He said nervously, his heartbeat racing as he realised just how humiliating the position was.

”What did you call me?” Tony asked before making a move to deliver the first spank.

 “I-I meant ‘Daddy’, ‘m sorry!” He said shrilly, turning to hide his face off of the side of the man’s leg.

”That’s better.” Tony chuckled. ”Count them for me.” The doctor instructed before finally delivering the first spank. Peter was still wearing his underwear and sweatpants, but Tony would not pull those down until the boy was a bit warmed up.

Oh God, what had he gotten himself into? Oh God, oh God, oh G-

The first spank hit him harder than he expected, and he couldn’t stop the high pitched squeak that escaped him when Stark’s hand came down on his ass. “O-One...!” He whimpered, squirming on the man’s lap as soon as the hit came.

Tony held the boy steady with the hand on the back of his neck as he squirmed, giving him a few seconds to recover before delivering the second blow on the other ass cheek.

Peter yelped again when the second spank hit his other cheek, and he gasped for breath as jolts of pain rippled up his body. “Tuh... Two!” He said, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists to try and distract himself from the pain.

The sound of Peter’s yelps was music to Tony’s ears and he couldn’t help a smirk when the boy squirmed on his lap again. However, he kept it professional and squeezed Peter’s neck reassuringly. ”You okay?”

Peter shivered when Stark’s hand squeezed around the back of his neck, but he didn’t turn to look up at the doctor. “Y-Yeah, ‘m fine. Promise.” He mumbled, moving again to get a little more comfortable. He could feel himself getting hotter and hotter the more he was in this position, and shame filled him.

”You’re doing good, Peter.” Tony said with another squeeze before raising his hand again to deliver the third blow. Giving Peter a second to recover, Tony arranged the boy a little to pull his sweatpants down to his thighs, but let the underwear be for now. ”You’re doing good.” He repeated again.

Peter cried out when the third blow was given, the sound being wrenched from his throat. “Three!” He counted aloud, but suddenly froze when he felt Stark’s hands dip into the waistline of his sweatpants. He began to breathe a little faster, knowing that now only his underwear separated the man’s hand and his own ass, and he forced himself to stay calm.

Tony made a note in his mind about how Peter’s breathing became quicker, but didn’t stop what he was doing. Raising his hand again, he gave the fourth and fifth blow swiftly without giving Peter time to count them in between.

Peter’s mind became hazy, the slaps to his ass jolting him forward every time and leaving him breathless. “Four, fi-ive!” He stuttered when the fifth one landed just on the top of his thigh. He whined and squirmed on the man’s lap again, his skin becoming more and more heated while his ass had ripples of pain shooting up it.

”You’re doing good, Peter, you’re okay.” Tony assured with another squeeze to Peter’s neck, but also to keep him steady each time he moved. Giving the sixth blow, Tony let his hand stay on the boy’s ass and rubbed his heated skin, smirking at the whine he got in response.

Why was this turning him on? _Why_  was this turning him on?? He counted the sixth blow when it came, but didn’t expect Stark’s hand to remain on his ass. He whined, feeling how nice the pressure was against the slapped skin, and he resisted moving his hips back to push into his touch. He let his head hang and panted for air, enjoying the feeling of Stark touching him.

After rubbing in the sting for another moment, Tony pulled Peter’s underwear down and marveled at the sweet curve on his ass. There were no handprints on Peter’s skin, yet, but it looked painfully red and perky and the doctor loved it. ”Four left now. Remember to use your safeword if you need to and I will stop.” Tony reminded and gave Peter a moment to respond.

Peter whimpered when the doctor finally pulled down his underwear. His face went as bright red as his ass, knowing that right now, Stark was /looking at his butt/. A sick part of him was thrilled. When Stark reminded him of his safeword, he nodded. “O-Okay.” He mumbled, his breath laboured and his body beginning to tremble - whether it was from fear or arousal, he wasn’t sure.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony praised before delivering the seventh and eighth swiftly on each ass cheek and with more force than before. The doctor was glad that he had placed his leg over Peter’s, so that when the boy kicked in shock, he didn’t get hurt in the process. ”Shh, shh.” Tony soothed before smirking at the hand prints that glowed on Peter’s ass.

When Stark started to hit his bare ass, that was when Peter began to struggle. He completely forgot to count the two swats to his ass, his entire body squirming to try and get away from Stark’s hand. He cried out, his jaw clenched and his eyes shut as he wriggled about under the doctor’s grip.

”How many is that, Peter?” Tony asked when he didn’t hear the boy count. He continued to hold Peter steady with the hand on the back of his neck. The doctor predicted that the tears would start falling very soon.

 “I... That’s... Seven? E-Eight?” To be honest, Peter wasn’t sure. He just knew that he had been spanked more times than he ever had in his life time, and that the humiliation that the doctor was seeing his bare ass was nothing in comparison to the arousal that _the doctor was seeing his bare ass_.

”That’s right. Two more left.” Tony said and raised his hand to deliver another blow to the top of Peter’s thigh, which were the most sensitive.

Peter gasped when Stark’s hand landed on the top of his thigh. It sent lightning bolts of pure pain up and down his legs, and before he could stop himself, tears began to brim in the corners of his eyes. He tried to hold it together, biting down hard on his lip to resist making any more noise.

Bringing a hand down to rub at the spot where he had just spanked Peter, Tony had to hold the boy down as he squirmed. ”Ah-ah. How many is that?” The doctor reminded, rubbing firmly to get the most pain out of the sting before it turned into a dull ache.

The slap hurt, but the feeling of the doctor’s hand rubbing the pain in made it feel even worse. He was feeling dizzy, and the question barely registered in his head. Fuck, if he spoke he was going to start crying. “Nine!” He said quickly, but the tears started streaming down his face even as he said that one syllable.

Hearing Peter starting to cry, Tony delivered the final blow and kept rubbing the same spot with the palm of his hand. ”There, there. It’s over now.” Tony assured and helped the boy up and arranged him onto his lap to hold him close as he cried. ”It’s okay, it’s over now.”

Peter didn't _want_  to cry, not when he was elated that the man had finally spanked him and he could shove that fact into Loki's face, but the tears wouldn't stop falling as he was rearranged into a sitting position. He winced painfully as he rested his weight on his ass, tilting his head forward to rest it against the man's shoulder as he cried gently.

”You did so well, little one.” Tony said quietly, rubbing Peter’s back to comfort him. ”You made Daddy so proud. You’re such a brave boy.”

Peter didn’t say anything, simply whimpered into the man’s collar as tears continued to track down his face. Hearing Stark call himself ‘Daddy’ made heat pool in his stomach again, but he ignored it in favour of just sitting with the man and feeding off of the praise he was being given.

”Daddy’s good boy. Yes, you are.” Tony continued to praise Peter, stroking his curls and rubbing his back as he did so. ”Is that better, little one?”

Peter purred in response, nodding his head lazily and snuggling up even closer to the man then before. He lifted his head just a little bit to plant a lslow and wet kiss on the side of Stark's neck, before temptation got the better of him and he was peppering kisses all over his neck and up to his jawline.

”Peter, you don’t have to please me. You did good already.” Tony assured with a little smile when Peter began kissing him, but tilted his head back to give the boy better access.

“I know, but…” Peter finally mumbled, taking a break from kissing the doctor to lean back and gaze at him. “I like doin’ it, so…” He shrugged, before leaning back in for one last kiss on the man’s jawline. He then tucked his head under Stark’s chin, curling up into a ball so that he could fit properly on his lap. The position was comfy, even if it caused more jolts of pain to run up his back from his ass.

”Hmm. It does feel nice.” Tony admitted and wrapped his arms snugly around the boy. ”How are you feeling?” The doctor asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

“It… it hurts.” Peter said, wincing as he shifted a little bit of his weight and instantly felt the consequences of it. He took a shaky breath, his body still trembling with the endorphins of pain and pleasure running through him.

”Yeah, that’s what happens when you swear in front of Daddy.” Tony chuckled, but grabbed Peter’s chin to pull his face closer and plant a kiss on his cheek. ”Lets give it a while and then I’ll rub some cream on it, okay?” The doctor asked and planted another kiss on the boy’s face.

“Any excuse to touch my ass…” He teased, but nodded regardless and tilted his head upwards to let the man kiss him properly on the cheek. He sighed contentedly, his heart beginning to slow down and return to normal.

”Cheeky...” Tony growled playfully and moved to bite the boy’s ear gently. When Peter yelped and giggled in response, Tony placed a hand on his hip to ground him with a smile.

Peter giggled with laughter, pawing at the man’s face to try and push him away from his ear. He dropped his hand to his hip, covering Stark’s hand with his own. “You’re not denying it!” He said, still giggling as he began to squirm on the doctor’s lap.

Well, fuck. He hadn’t now, had he? Tony swallowed before answering, giving in to his attraction towards the boy. ”It’s a pretty ass. Very pretty.” He said with a smile and leaned over to kiss Peter on his lips.

Peter squeaked, but the noise was swallowed up when Stark kissed him properly on the lips. He smiled into the kiss, pulling away from it for just a moment to murmur "You're such a _pervert_..." in a clearly playful tone. For a second, he wondered whether he had gone too far by calling him that.

Tony felt a spark of arousal in the pit of his stomach and kissed the boy hungrily. The idea was surprisingly exciting and the doctor moaned into the kiss in the back of his throat.

Peter’s eyes went wide when he saw how enthusiastically the man responded to his teasing, and instantly he knew he had leverage. He had never heard the doctor moan like that before, and it sent goosebumps rippling up his skin. “You… You like that, _Doctor Stark_? Like… like the idea of being a pervert towards your… your patient?” He had no idea where this talk was coming from, but his brain was on autopilot.

Tony /loved/ what Peter was implying and groaned out. However, he couldn’t stand the boy’s cheeky and teasing attitude for long and placed his hand on Peter’s ass, rubbing the still sore flesh. ”Who’s in charge here, boy?” He growled playfully.

Peter opened his mouth, about to continue his teasing, but he interrupted himself with a gasp when Stark’s hand squeezed at his red ass. He arched his back and tilted his head back, his entire body trembling. “Y-You are, Daddy, you are! Please... please call me t-that again, love when you s-sound like that.” He didn’t know how to explain it, but the way that Stark’s personality changed when he became more dominant was intoxicating.

”What? You like when Daddy does this?” Tony asked with a dark chuckle and squeezed Peter’s ass cheek in his grasp. ”You like being called a boy?”

Peter became _overwhelmed_  with arousal - the pet name, Stark calling himself ‘Daddy’, his ass getting groped, it was too much to handle. He hid his face in the crook of the man’s neck and whined pitifully, blabbering little “Yes! Yes!”s against the man’s skin as he was held close to his chest. “S-Such a pervert...” he whimpered, trying desperately to achieve level ground.

”That’s what I thought...” Tony chuckled darkly and rubbed Peter’s ass cheek gentler now. ”You want me to rub some cream on your sore ass?” The doctor hummed and kissed Peter’s temple.

Peter gasped again, breathing in little huffs as the man’s hand wandered around his ass. “Mhm...” He nodded, desperately trying to avoid thinking about the heat that had pooled in his groin and his stomach. If Stark looked down and saw him, he would probably laugh his head off. Peter just had to stay cool.

”All right, then. I have to go fetch it.” Tony said apologetically and eased Peter off of his lap to stand up. Going to his desk drawer, the doctor found the cream, which had a cooling affect and worked wonders after a spanking. ”Stand up for me?” Tony prompted Peter as he returned to the sofa.

Peter whined when he was shunted off the man’s lap, and winced when he sat on the sofa. He watched the man move, still drawn to the doctor’s muscular arms and how nice they looked in that smart shirt, before Stark was back in front of him and he had to zone back in. “Huh? Oh, right...” Peter stood up, wobbling a bit on his feet as he did so.

”Drop your pants again.” Tony instructed with a little smile, opening the tube and spreading on him palm. Gently, he began applying it to the boy’s red ass cheeks and winced in sympathy when Peter cried out. ”I know, I know. Just a minute and it will feel much better.” The doctor assured.

Peter cried out in pain when the cold cream was lathered against his raw, heated skin. He gripped the front of his sweatpants tightly, desperate to hide his arousal from the man as he treated his sore ass. He choked each time cream was applied to a new area of his ass, and his knuckles went nearly white. After a little while, though, it started to feel soothing, and he sighed a little in relief.

”Told you.” Tony chuckled a little and leaned foreards to kiss Peter behind his ear. Capping the tube, he went to put the cream back and wipe his hands clean. ”You still might feel sore for a few days though.” The doctor warned before retuning to Peter, stroking his cheek gently while looking down at him.

Peter rolled his eyes fondly at the man’s “I told you so” tone, but didn’t say anything in response to it. He pulled his sweatpants up, careful to not cause too much rubbing against his ass as the waistband settled on his hips. He smiled gently as how soft Stark was now, in comparison to how he was twenty minutes ago when he was spanking Peter’s ass like there was no tomorrow. He tugged the hem of his hoodie down when he saw the doctor’s eyes gazing down at him, and prayed he wouldn’t look down any further than his face.

”How are you feeling?” Tony asked, cupping Peter’s cheek to guide his head to his chest and running his fingers through his curls.

 “‘m fine!” Peter squeaked, moving easily to rest his head against the doctor’s chest. Shit, way to sound natural, Parker. He turned his hips ever so slightly to make sure he wasn’t... _poking_ the man, and sighed contentedly when he felt fingers running through his hair. He definitely understood why Loki enjoyed having his hair played with now. It was so calming, Peter could easily doze off to sleep even though he was stood upright.

Tony hummed and continued to stroke the boy’s curls, using his nails now and then to scratch at his scalp. ”Tell me what you think of the spanking. Did it help like you wanted it to?” The doctor asked.

Peter almost _purred_  when Stark’s fingertips began to scratch at his head. “Y-Yeah. It, uhm, felt good. Not like _good_ good, but... I didn’t know I needed to cry, but it helped me out with that, you know? Sorry, I’m really bad at explaining...” he laughed nervously, quickly grabbing the man’s wrist and moving it to where he wanted his head to be scratched.

Tony let Peter guide his hand and scratched at the spot, smiling when Peter relaxed visibly. ”That’s fine, Peter, I understand what you’re saying.” He said with a fond smile, but when there was a knock at the door, he pulled his hand back and took a step back from Peter, so that nothing looked too intimate for a doctor and patient.

Peter’s shoulders slumped with relaxation, but immediately tensed up again when he heard the knock on the door. He tried not to be too hurt by how quickly the doctor was able to detach himself from the boy, instead turning to look at the door cautiously before Barnes came in. He shoved his hands back into his hoodie pockets, and tried not to appear too guilty.

”We’re done here. You can bring him back, Barnes.” Tony said and patted Peter’s shoulder. ”Will do. Oh! Loki is asking for you, Peter.” The nurse said with a smile and Tony turned to look at Peter’s reaction with curiosity, considering what the boy had said about their friendship the last few days.

Peter glanced up at the doctor quickly when he patted his shoulder, and the gentle touch made him blush a little bit. However, that was forgotten about when Loki’s name was mentioned, and his head whipped up to look at the nurse. “R-Really? Can… Can I see him?” He said, trying not to get too excited.

”Of course. He’s outside with Thor.” Bucky said and gestured to the door with his head so that Peter would follow him.

”I look forward to hearing about this.” Tony chuckled and waved Peter goodbye as he left the office with the nurse, practically skipping out the door.


	34. 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki make up.

Peter waved vaguely to Stark before he left, but honestly he was too excited (and nervous) about seeing Loki to really say goodbye. He left the office and immediately headed down the corridor towards the courtyard, where he saw Thor and Loki sat together on a bench, having a conversation. As usual, Loki’s pale face was dusted pink as he talked to the nurse, but Peter decided to spare him the teasing as he headed outside. “Lo?” He said tentatively, slowing down a little as he approached them.

”Hi, Peter! I’m-” Loki stopped and then looked at Thor for guidance. The nurse nodded with a smile. ”I’m happy to see you.” The boy said quietly and lowered his head. Thor stood up from the bench. ”I’ll leave you boys to it, yeah?” The nurse said and walked off a bit to give the two patients some privacy, but still being close enough to keep an eye on them.

When Loki said that, Peter’s heart almost burst out of his chest. He moved a little closer, gesturing to the bench as if he were wordlessly asking to sit down, to which the other boy nodded. Peter took his seat, only to instantly jolt when he rested his weight on his bruised ass. He tried not to bring attention to it, but he hissed between clenched teeth quietly before sitting properly. “H-How’re you?” He asked, trying not to draw attention to himself.

Loki frowned a bit at Peter’s hisses, but didn’t ask about it yet as he had something else on his mind. ”I- ugh... I don’t know how to say this...” Loki sighed with frustration. He had been planning and practicing what he wanted to say with Banner earlier, but now he forgot all that and stared down at the ground with his bottom lip between his teeth.

Loki was nervous about something, Peter could tell straight away. “Hey, it’s okay. No pressure.” He said kindly, daring to place a hand on the boy’s shoulder and rub it gently for a few seconds before dropping it again. He turned to look at the boy properly, his head ever so slightly tilted to one side as he waited for Loki to speak again.

”I uhm... I just wanted to say I appreciate you. Like- for sitting with me and talking to me even though I don’t want to and uhm... For giving me a chance.” Loki stuttered out while keep his eyes down, but then briefly glanced up at Peter by his side with a smile. ”I- I just... Thanks, for being there. You know?”

Peter blinked when Loki spoke, but returned the smile whole-heartedly. He suddenly came forward to wrap his arms around the boy’s shoulders in a tight hug, holding him as close as possible. After a few seconds he pulled away, and his grin only got brighter. “Any time, Lo.”

Loki was a little taken aback by being pulled into Peter’s embrace so suddenly, but welcomed the comfort with a smile. Actually, he wanted the hug to last longer, but he didn’t make a move to hold Peter back. He couldn’t wait to tell Banner that he actually said what he did to Peter. _Daddy would be so proud of him_ , Loki thought to himself with a little smile before turning to Peter. ”Anyway. Why’s your ass so sore?”

Peter’s grin promptly dropped when Loki mentioned his ass, and he became sheepish with a blush slowly but surely creeping up his face. “I, uh… I did the dare.” He said, looking at Loki through his eyelashes with a bashful grin. “He… He…” Peter didn’t have to say what Stark did. They both knew.

”He spanked you?!” Loki asked loudly, startling some pigeons nearby in the process. The boy doubled over and howled with laughter.

“LOKI!” Peter squealed, slapping the boy’s arm relentlessly to try and get him to shut up. “Not so loud, dipshit, what if the nurses hear!” He said, though he couldn’t hold back the grin that was threatening to spread across his face. “Y-Yeah, he did. And now my ass hurts, alright?” He said amusedly.

At Peter’s last comment, Loki only laughed harder and kicked his legs as he threw his head back. Calming down from his fit, Loki wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, but still giggled under his breath.

“I never should’ve told you…” Peter mumbled under his breath, moving his hands to cover his face. “He… He took his lab coat off and everythin’, I didn’t realise the dude was so hench…!” He whined, thinking back to how he had been unable to take his eyes off of the prominent bicep and tricep muscles that bulged whenever the man subtly flexed his arms.

Loki laughed again, holding his stomach as he found Peter’s embarrassment endlessly amusing. ”I fucking can’t! I can’t!” Loki giggled.

Peter couldn’t help grinning back. Even despite his embarrassment, seeing Loki happy and laughing was enough to make him amused as well, and so they sat like that for a while as Loki wheezed with laughter and Peter covered his face in humiliation. “So, uhm. Yeah. That happened.”

”Well, fuck it did!” Loki grinned and slapped Peter’s upper arm playfully. ”Tell me everything! Come on!” The boy said eagerly, turning on the bench to face Peter properly.

 _Not everything_ , Peter immediately thought to himself. “Well, uhm… I was kinda in a grumpy mood when I went into the session, and one of his rules is that ‘m not allowed to swear, but… I just kept swearing anyway. And then when he gave me a warning, I was like ‘I don’t fucking care’ so he just… snapped. Not like, violently, but he got all… dominant ‘n stuff, and I had to bend over his knee, and…” Peter whined, hiding his face again. “Fuck, it was so embarrassing…!”

Loki watched Peter carefully as he listened his story, trying to hold back laughter to let him finish. ”How many did you get?” The boy asked and narrowed his eyes a bit at Peter.

“I… I got ten, and he made me count them.” He said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “He…” Peter paused, debating whether to tell the boy this next bit. “When Banner does it to you, does he ever… does he ever pull down your trousers? Or is it just above clothes?” Loki’s response to the question would determine how Peter would phrase the next bit.

It Peter had asked him a week ago, he would have lied, but now he told the truth and blushed a light pink as he did. ”I-uhm... I asked him to go right to bare, so that’s what he does.” He admitted, glancing over at Peter nervously. ”What did Stark do to you?”

Peter huffed a sigh of relief. “Okay. He, uhm, he went over my sweatpants, then over my underwear, and then… then right on my bare ass.” He admitted, with his cheeks now burning a bright red. He was glad that someone else knew how it felt, so that he wasn’t exactly alone, but he expected that Loki was going to tease him regardless.

"Pussy." Loki snorted and shoved at Peter's shoulder. "Only real brats go right to bare." The boy grinned.

“Hey!” Peter yelped, jabbing the boy in the ribs playfully. “I wasn’t about to ask him to go straight to bare for my first time, dipshit, can you imagine how embarrassing that would be?” He said, frowning when the boy continued to giggle.

"I did." Loki shrugged with a smirk. "You're on your way to becoming a brat, but you'll never be as bratty as me." The boy laughed and gestured to himself with a wave of this hand.

Peter frowned at that. “I think I would’ve combusted if I asked for that.” He said, giggling at the boy’s dramatic air. “Yeah, yeah, cos you’re the _master,_  aren’t you? You’re the big dog.” He laughed again.

"That's moi." Loki said with a grin, sticking his tongue out at Peter. "But, you got spanked, so I guess you have earned _some_  of my respect." The boy added with a fond eye roll.

Peter’s face split into a toothy grin and he leaned forward to lie across the bench, resting his head in the boy’s lap. “That’s all I wanted.” He giggled, smiling fondly up at the other patient. “I’m just the rookie after all, right? Maybe I should call you ‘Master’ from now on.” He snorted, clearly joking.

”Oh, ‘master’. I like that.” Loki laughed and smiled down at Peter. However, he didn’t mention that Peter would be leaving soon and just focused on enjoying his company.

Peter snorted. “In your dreams, greaseball.” He said, lifting his hands up to squeeze at the boy’s cheeks. “What were you and Thoooor talking about before I showed up?” He said, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly.

Loki whipped his head around to escape from Peter’s grip with a grin. ”Shut up! It was nothing special...” The boy lied poorly and let his eyes wander over to where the nurse in question was standing and talking to another patient.

"Are you lyiiiing?" Peter crooned, looking up at the boy as he laid with his head in his lap, and followed Loki's gaze to where Thor was stood on the other end of the courtyard. "Come on, Lo, you can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, promise!"

Loki batted his hand at the boy and covered his eyes with his hands for a bit to tease him. ”Nothing, nothing! There’s nothing to hear nor see!” The boy laughed and couldn’t help but glance over at Thor now and then.

Peter crowed with laughter at how flustered Loki got, but didn't push any further. "Woah, shit, I'm blind! Where did you go?" He cried out, wildly waving his arms up in the air in front of him as if he were trying to feel where Loki was. "You better not have gone to kiss him!" He said, thankfully not loud enough for the nurse to hear.

”Dumbass.” Loki muttered, holding back a laugh at how Peter waved his arms around. Pulling his hand back, Loki stared down at Peter before speaking. ”No, because I’m not as dumb as you. Nor am I a lovesick puppy.” He said before sitting back until a thought suddenly occurred to him. ”Did you get a boner?”

Peter huffed, sticking his middle finger up at the boy when he called him a lovesick puppy again. "You call me that again, and watch what happens, greaseball." He threatened, though they both knew he was teasing. The question made him freeze, and his eyes widen ever so slightly. "Uh. No. Why- why- why would it? That's... Nope." Wow, he couldn't have been less subtle if he tried.

Loki frowned down at Peter before sitting back again, a smug and satisfied look on his face. ”You got a boner.” He giggled.

Peter squirmed on the bench, biting on the inside of his cheek. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, much like a gulping fish. "F-Fine. Yeah, I... I did. I had to, uhm, had to hide it from him. I don't... I don't think he saw it. I hope."

”I bet he fucking did.” Loki laughed, covering his grin with his hand. ”These people see everything.” The boy said and gestured to the facility in general.

"No! Oh my God, no." Peter moaned, turning onto his side so that he could curl up into the fetal position and cover his face with his hands. "I-I... You can't tell anyone! You can't- You..." He groaned, sliding his hands up to grip at his own hair. "God, I hope he didn't see it..." He knew that Stark was aware of his arousal back in that session, if the squeezing of his ass and the dirty whispers in his ear were anything to go by.

”I bet he’s jerking off right now.” Loki joked with a snort. He hadn’t had this much fun teasing someone about their crush in years and he was making the most fun out of it while he could.

"No, no, _no_!" Peter squealed, shaking his head furiously on the boy's lap. But it was too late, the thought of the doctor sat at his desk touching himself made the boy hot under the collar and he whined pitifully as he tried to think about something else, _anything else_. "You're such an ass!" He said, but his voice was much too high and strained for it to actually insult the boy.

Loki broke into another laughing fit, turning his head away and hiding his face in his hands. ”I can’t! This-this is too fucking good- to be true!” The boy stuttered out in between laughs which had his whole body jerking and face going all red.

Peter whined again at how loud Loki’s laughter was, and he could feel heat beginning to grow in his stomach. _Oh no_. The thought of the doctor touching himself had made him aroused, and he had no choice but to simply curl up further into that ball and shove the hem of his hoodie down over his crotch. “I can’t believe you.”

All the talk about Peter’s crush on his doctor made Loki think about his own doctor. Remembering what Banner had said to him about teasing others too much, the boy backed off and changed the topic. ”Uhm- are you liking the book I borrowed you?”

Peter let out a shaky breath. He couldn’t help but thank the heavens that Loki had decided to change the subject. “Yeah, yeah! It’s really good. I, uh, I prefer the bits from when they’re kids, but the whole thing’s really good. I like Bev the most.” He hummed.

”I like how they switch between being adults and kids, gives this compare and contrast thing over time.” Loki said thoughtfully before adding. ”But, what bugs me is why Richie was so cared of the teenage werewolf?” The boy said and threw one hand into the air to emphasise his confusion. ”But, it was the 50s, so I guess it makes sense.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, the werewolf was a little goofy. But like you said, the fifties. Reminds me of the old times when, like, people would see a train in films in the movie theatre and they’d run out of the theatre ‘cos they thought that the train was gonna come out of the screen.” He snorted. “Ben’s little poem to Beverly was cute as hell, I’ll admit that.”

Loki snorted at that. “It was sappy as fuck, but what do you expect from 12 year olds?” He remembered that poem very clearly, and secretly enjoyed it as well. In some ways, it reflected how he felt about Thor, though he would never admit it. “You think you’d ever write one like that for Stark?” He knew that Banner had told him about teasing people, but he couldn’t resist.

“Hey!” Peter slapped the boy on the arm. “No way, dude. That’d be… that’d be weird. Right?” He said a little uncertainly, though the idea of making something for the doctor stuck in his head. Maybe… maybe if he drew something for him in littlespace? He’d have to think about it.

”Yeah, I think so.” Loki laughed. ”But, you’ve embarrassed yourself already in front of Stark so many times. Kissed his nose, got spanked, got a boner. I mean, what’s fucking next?” The boy said as he counted the incidents on his fingers and then burst into giggles.

Peter huffed, grabbing the boy’s hand and shoving it down when he was counting the incidents on his fingers. “We don’t know that he saw it. He probably didn’t, he’s... he’s a professional. Right?” He said, gulping a little at how Stark had manhandled him in his lap and touched him all over until he was breathless.

”Well, that’s good to hear. Because otherwise it would be malpractice and he would get fired.” Loki pointed out with a shrug, like what he was saying couldn’t possibly be true. He didn’t see Peter’s reaction to what he had said as he was looking out on the courtyard.

Peter froze when he said that. Shit, shit, fuck. He had been so selfishly ignoring the consequences of his... activities with Doctor Stark, and Loki’s casual comment made the illusion shatter. He gulped nervously, a heavy knot settling in his stomach. “Yeah... Don’t want him fired...” he mumbled, anxiety sitting on his chest.


	35. 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony show vulnerability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's rdj's birthday, but he decided to give ME a gift by liking my tweet! i called him baby and he liked it, so that means he's my baby, right? that's how this works, right? - richie
> 
> https://twitter.com/maevegibs/status/1113838530160136192

Over the next few days, Peter could barely get Loki’s comment out of his head. He wondered about it day and night, and the only thing that could make it go away was when he was with the doctor, either sitting on his own chair in his office, or sitting on his lap kissing him until he was breathless. Every time he did so, he felt a disgusting pang of guilt unfurl in his stomach, and that pang came back as he made his way to the doctor’s office for this morning’s session.

Hearing a knock on his door, Tony stood up from his chair to greet his patient yet again. He caught a glimpse of Thor in the hallway, who had escorted the boy, before he was left alone with Peter in his office. ”How’s your day been so far?” The doctor started as usual and they both settled into their seats.

Peter shrugged non-committally, gazing around the office. “It’s been alright. I finally finished Loki’s book that he let me read, so I gotta give that back to him…” He said, cracking his knuckles nervously. “And, uhm, Thor was telling me on the way here that he saw a woodpecker the other day, so I was tryna find out what kind he saw.”

”And did you find out?” Tony asked, keeping the conversation light at first.

“Yeah! It was a red one.” Peter said. “Those are the more well-known ones, but there are green ones as well.” He mumbled, before quietening down when he realised that he was rambling again.

”Did you log that into your journal then?” The doctor asked.

“Well, no, cos I didn’t see it, Thor did.” Peter pointed out, giggling behind his hand. “I don’t just write down any bird, I’ve gotta be able to see it!”

”I see.” Tony nodded and sensed that Peter had said what he needed to, so he brought up a new subject. ”What about the joint therapy with Loki yesterday? You said it was good. You have some more thoughts about it?” The doctor asked. Both he and Banner thought the joint age regression therapy was a success and were planning to take it a step further. But, only if the two patients in question agreed to it.

“Yeah! It was really fun.” Loki and Peter had spent the session doodling on scrap pieces of paper, playing hangman and various other drawing games while Banner and Stark kept an eye on them. They’d also gotten in a couple of tickle fights, Peter losing every time. “I like therapy with Loki.” He said, nodding to himself.

”That’s good to hear.” Tony said with a smile. ”So, considering that you’re leaving on Friday, Banner and I thought we would do something special. How does that sound?”

Ah, yes, he was leaving on Friday. That was something that had him feeling conflicted in the depths of Peter's stomach. On the one hand, he was healthy enough to go back home, and go back to school where he could see Ned and MJ again, but… he was leaving Stark behind to do so. And Loki, which he remembered guiltily. But the sound of something special made Peter’s ears perk up. “Special…? What… what is it?”

”I thought that we could take you and Loki for a swim at the pool.” Tony said with a smile, curious to see Peter’s reaction. ”What do you think?”

“The _pool_? Really?” Peter said, his eyes shining with excitement as he began to vibrate on the seat. “You… You’d really do that? I-I-I’ve not been swimming in _ages_ , I miss it so much, that sounds awesome!” He said, his face now split into a huge, genuine grin as he thought more and more about the possibility.

”You think so?” Tony asked with a smile, mirroring Peter’s excitement. ”Would you like us to arrange that?”

 “Yeah! That... that sounds so good, please please please!” He grinned, and before he could stop himself he had leapt out of the chair he was sat in to wrap his arms around the Doctor in the tightest hug yet, burying his face into his shoulder.

”Oof!” Tony chuckled and wrapped his arms about the boy snugly. ”Banner will have to ask Loki if he wants to as well, but I think he will want to go.” The doctor said and patted the Peter’s curls.

Peter nodded, squeezing the man a little tighter for a second before moving away to sit back on his seat. “Sorry, I... I should’ve asked if it was cool to hug you.” He mumbled embarrassedly, his cheeks a light pink. He didn’t think the doctor would’ve minded, but it was always good to double check.

”That’s fine, Peter.” Tony assured with a wave of his hand to show that no harm was done. ”So, you are leaving on Friday. Tell me what you think about that.”

When Peter heard the question he paused, thinking it over in his head. “Uhm… I dunno. ‘m excited, cos then I’ll get to see May, and Ned and MJ, but…” He ducked his head to avoid looking at the doctor. “I-I’ll miss you.” He said quietly.

 _I’ll miss you too, a lot, to the point where I don’t know how I can be motivated to come to work if you are not there_ , Tony thought to himself. However, he did not say it aloud. ”It’s okay to miss people, Peter, it is just part of life.” The doctor said with a sympathetic smile.

 “Yeah, I guess...” Peter mumbled, still looking down at his hands. He honestly couldn’t tell whether Stark would miss him too, his professionalism was apparent, and it made Peter a bit downtrodden. “I’ll miss Loki too.” But he’d miss Stark the most, knowing there was no way of contacting him once he left.

”You’ve grown quite close, haven’t you?” Tony asked. He was very pleased that the boy had found one another and he predicted that Loki’s condition would worsen once Peter left, but there was little that could be done to stop that.

 “Yeah, we have.” He nodded. He and Loki had agreed that they were friends the other day, when they sat in Loki’s room reading books while Peter braided Loki’s hair. It had made comfortable warmth settle in his chest, and he hadn’t stopped smiling for the rest of the day.

”Will you try to keep in touch with him after you’ve left?” Tony asked. ”And has he told you how long he is staying here?”

 “Uhm, yeah, I... I really want to. Hopefully I can try ‘n get a number or somethin’.” He said, finally looking up at the Doctor. He was giving him another unreadable look, one that seemed to just look straight through him, so he looked elsewhere. “I... I don’t think I asked. He knows I’m leaving soon, though.”

”Hmm.” Tony hummed with a nod. He knew that Loki was going to stay for at least another month, but only for him to sign another agreement because he was not fit to take care of himself. However, he could not tell Peter about that, only Loki himself could. ”You’ve said you’re going to miss Loki, but what good things are there about leaving?” The doctor asked with a smile, hoping to get Peter to gain a larger perspective on the upcoming departure.

 “Uhh... I get to see May again. And Ned ‘n MJ. I kinda miss school, but I think I’ll regret saying that after like a week of going back there.” He huffed a laugh. “I, uhm, I think those are the main things. I’ll just miss people more than anything.” ‘People’, hah. If Stark didn’t know he was talking about him, he was less intelligent than Peter thought.

Tony hummed again and now that Peter had brought up his aunt, the doctor decided to dig deeper. ”What do you think it will be like to return to your aunt?”

 “I... I dunno. I feel like she’ll treat me with kid gloves or somethin’, like she’s scared that something bad will happen to me again, but... I dunno, I’ll have to see.” He said, his gaze returning back to his lap.

”Something bad will happen to you again. What do you mean by that?” Tony asked, eyeing the boy closely in front of him. Peter had continued to gain weight, the doctor could see that, but he was concerned about how going back to his aunt may perhaps slow down his progress.

 “I just... I dunno. I dunno what might happen, but I don’t think May wants me back here. She said that she wanted me back at school ‘n stuff, so I can see her getting overprotective and helicopter-y.” He mumbled, knowing that stopping interactions with Doctor Stark could put him in the same position as last time.

”Overprotective and helicopter-y. What does that entail practically?” Tony asked, curious to know what Peter’s daily routine would he like and if they needed to work on some routines together before the boy left.

Peter hummed. “It’s just... I feel like she’ll wanna try to protect me, but she’ll go overboard and just wrap me in bubble wrap or something. You know, constantly checking up on me, being _too_  sensitive around me, it’s... yeah.”

”I get a sense that you don’t appreciate that very much. Is that correct?” Tony asked.

 “Uhm, yeah. I just wanna be able to do my own thing when I get out of here. I mean, obviously I understand her being worried about me, and wanting to look out for me, but I wanna be able to... to do things.”

”What kind of things?” Tony asked and wished he had brought his notepad along, but it was too late to go get it from his desk now. He listened closely to what Peter explained next.

 “I dunno, just... stuff.” He shrugged, holding his knees up to his chest with his chin on his kneecaps. “I... Yeah, I dunno. Sorry, my brains kinda all over the place.” He mumbled.

”That’s all right, Peter.” Tony assured with a smile and hand gesture. ”Take the time you need.”

 “I... Yeah, I just feel like she’ll feel guilty somehow ‘n try to overcompensate for it by trying to take care of me too much. But... it’s not her fault I got like this, it’s not anyone’s fault. I don’t want her to freak out and try to make me feel like I’m... made out of glass or something.”

”I see.” Tony nodded as he thought about what his patient was explaining. ”Does you aunt have a job?”

 “Yeah, she... she works at the local infirmary. She says that she worked with Doctor Strange recently, and that he had high cheekbones.” He snorted, remembering how she had threatened to slap the man if he was being treated unfairly. “Sometimes she does night shifts too to pay rent ‘n stuff, cos it’s... it’s not enough.”

The doctor nodded and smiled with a chuckle at the mention of his old friend. ”How much does she work?” Tony asked, trying to find out how much Peter spent by himself at home.

“She works every weekday, ‘n she gets home at like… 7, 8ish? When I get home at like 3 after school.” He said, lifting his gaze to look around the room again. “And then at weekends she sometimes works nights.”

”That sounds like a busy work schedule.” Tony pointed out before asking. ”How do you find it?”

“It’s… hard sometimes. Like, she’s not in when I get home from school, so I try ‘n do as many chores as I can, and then I do my homework ‘n cook dinner for when she gets in.” Peter said, his gaze now falling back to the doctor. “It can be tiring, but… I deal with it, you know?”

”What about time for yourself? Do you have that at home?” Tony asked, finding it worrisome that Peter has to take care of the home considering his poor mental state.

“Sometimes. Usually at night before I go to bed, that’s when I relax ‘n stuff. I’m at school all day, and then in the evenings I do all the chores, and then at night I get to relax. Me ‘n Ned usually play online games together, I dunno if you would’ve heard of any of them… And then I go to bed.” Stark didn’t have to know his whole night routine.

”Perhaps I have.” Tony said with a chuckle, not bothering with a joke about his age. ”And when do you usually go to bed?”

Peter rolled his eyes fondly, but continued. “It depends. Sometimes when I’m playing games with Ned, I’ll go to bed at like… 1ish? But then if I’m really tired, which I am usually, I go to bed at around 11pm.” He explained.

”Right.” Tony nodded. 11 was a decent time to go to bed, so getting enough sleep didn’t seem like an issue for Peter. However, the amount of work he had to do at home, alone, worried the doctor. ”So, that is more or less your daily routine. If you could change it, in any way you like, what would you change?”

 “Uhm... I wouldn’t mind May being around a little more than she is. I miss her sometimes, the flat can get lonely.” He said, his accompanying laugh sounding a little sadder than a laugh should. “But if she doesn’t do the shifts, we can’t get the money to pay bills, so...”

”I see.” Tony nodded, pausing a bit before he asked next. ”Have you talked to her about this?”

Peter paused, before shaking his head glumly. “No, I... I don’t wanna seem greedy or selfish by demanding that she reduce her hours just because I feel a little bit ~lonely~.” He said, raising his hands to form air quotes around the word ‘lonely’. “There are more important things to worry about, like how we’re gonna pay rent ‘n stuff.”

”You don’t want to seem greedy or selfish and you don’t like to make others unhappy.” Tony summarised. ”Is that correct?”

 “Uhm, yeah.” Peter nodded. “Are you gonna try ‘n psychoanalyse me now or something?” He said, stifling a giggle at how focussed the doctor was looking at him.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s question and gestured to him with a wave of his hand. ”I have been psychoanalysing you since you came here, Peter. That’s my job.” The doctor said like it was the most obvious thing.

Peter rolled his eyes again, dropping his legs from his chest to slump down in the seat while gazing at the man with a lazy smile. “Oh? And what did you find out?” He asked, tilting his head to one side as he asked.

”We have talked about this before, remember? And I said that I think you have issues with attachment and an underdeveloped self esteem and self image, which I still stand by.” Tony explained before giving Peter a chance to say something in return. ”What do you think about that?”

 “Right, right...” Peter nodded, sitting up a little more in his chair. “That, uhm, that makes sense.” He remembered that conversation clearly, how it was nice to have it explained in words rather than jumbled up thoughts inside his own head.

”You said that last time too. Do you have any more thoughts about it?” Tony asked.

Peter shrugged. “Not really, it’s pretty accurate.” It was only proving to be more accurate as he found himself becoming more and more attached to Stark, and less and less willing to let him go in the fear that something bad would happen.

”What about the goal you made for your own recovery? Have you thought about it?” Tony asked instead, seeing that the boy did not have anything to say about his own psychoanalysis.

 “Yeah. I think it’s gonna be likely, especially if we’re gonna go swimming with Loki soon. It’ll... it’ll get me ready for it, you know?” He said, bringing his legs up to cross them in a lotus position on the seat.

”Yes, I agree with you.” Tony nodded. ”What about the rest of you goal? There is more than just the swimming, right?”

 “Well, yeah, but... that’s what I’m excited about.” Peter grinned for a moment, before calming down again. “I wanna be able to, uhm, to go back to school with my friends and be...” the word “normal” stuck out in his mind, but he felt odd saying it. He bit his tongue for a second, before deciding on a different word. “Better.”

”That's a good goal and I think you are on your way there.” Tony said with a smile. ”Some patients your age find the return to school to be tough, while some find it easy. What do you think your return will be like?”

Peter thought about it for a moment, then frowned. “It’s gonna be mixed. Obviously I’m gonna enjoy seeing Ned and MJ, and the teachers all like me cos I do the work ‘n I get good grades, so... that won’t be _too_  bad, but... Flash will probably take the piss outta me for a while once I’m back.” He said, slumping in his chair again at the thought of Flash Thompson.

”Flash?” Tony repeated as he had not heard the name before. ”Who is he?”

Ah, shit. “He’s... someone. No-one. He’s a kid that goes to my school, he’s... he’s not very nice to me.” He said, and he began to squirm on the seat as he clearly became uncomfortable with the thought of the bully.

”He's not nice to you. Tell me more about that.” Tony prompted, resting his chin on his palm as he listened closely.

 “He, uh, he calls me names. His favourite is...” Peter gulped, his face burning up with embarrassment. “H-His favourite name to call me is ‘Penis Parker’ which, you know, isn’t even that funny. And, uhm, he shoves me into lockers sometimes and smacks books outta my hands, ‘n... he’s got the biggest ego out of anyone I’ve ever met, so he’s always trying to one-up me in tests and stuff. I-I-I’ve never done anything to him, I guess cos ‘m small ‘n scrawny, it’s just easier to pick on me.”

”And how does that make you feel? To be picked on and messed with like that?” Tony asked, trying to keep his anger in check which was starting to boil. If only he could find this Flash and teach him a lesson.

 “I dunno. I’m just kinda used to it now. He’s clearly never going to like me, so I just duck my head down and try to stay out of his way as much as possible. Sometimes when it... when _I_  get bad, like mentally, I wonder if I deserve it. But that’s... that’s nothing, that’s whatever.” Peter mumbled, fiddling with the Velcro on his sneakers. God, he hated Flash.

”You wonder if you deserve it.” Tony repeated and felt how his heart ached on his chest at what Peter was telling. He had heard much worse before, but hearing it from Peter, it made him nearly emotional. But, the doctor did not let any of his inner turmoil show on his face as he prompted. ”What do you mean by that?”

Peter winced. He shouldn’t have said that. “I- It’s nothing. I don’t wanna... I don’t wanna talk about it, forget I ever said anything.” He said hurriedly, looking down at his shoes to avoid looking the Doctor in the eye.

”Peter, I don't think it's nothing. In fact, I think it is very important that we talk about what you just said.” Tony said with some sternness, as he did not want Peter to leave his care thinking he deserved what he was suffering from.

Usually, the stern tone of voice that the doctor used was enough to make Peter snap like a twig and immediately concede, but somehow this time he stood his ground. “N-No! I don’t want to, okay?” His hands were trembling a little by his side, and he still avoided Stark’s eye contact. “I don’t want to, so forget it.”

”All right, but listen to what I have to say, okay?” Tony bargained and paused a bit to get Peter’s attention. ”No one deserves to get a mental disorder and you must not believe Flash when he says otherwise.” The doctor lectured before falling silent to let Peter say what was on his mind.

Peter sighed, dropping his tense shoulders in defeat. "Fine..." He mumbled, rubbing at his face with one hand while he looked at the doctor warily. "He's just... He's so insistent all the time. Like, it never ends, and it's exhausting, and then when I get exhausted by it that's when I think like that. Realistically, I know it's not true, but... I think it anyway, you know?" He said, his chin now resting in his hand.

”I see.” Tony nodded, his brows raised a bit in a sympathetic look. ”Tell me more about what you think when it gets exhausting.”

 “I dunno. It happens all day every day, and part of me starts to think, like, he can’t be picking on me for /no reason/, that’s just stupid, so... I assume it’s something I’ve done and then it just kinda escalates from there. Like I said, though, I’m used to it so it doesn’t really have much of an impact like it used to.”

”You said he picks on you because you are small and scrawny. That doesn’t have anything to do with your mental state, does it?” Tony tried to reason, hoping Peter would see himself differently in this bully-victim context.

“Well, yeah, but... maybe he thinks because that I’m weak physically, I must be weak...” Peter then tapped his temple with his index finger, to signal mental weakness. “Up here. I don’t really know, he’s a douchebag regardless.”

Tony nodded as he listened to Peter’s logic, although he didn’t agree with it. However, there was only so much he could do to change the situation. Besides finding this Flash... ”So, what do you think will happen when you return to school?”

“With Flash? Well, he would’ve _definitely_  found out that I was in a mental facility for the last few weeks, so he’s probably going to have a field day calling me a psycho and a nutter and saying that you lot should’ve kept me in here for a lot longer and other shit like that.” Peter mumbled, though his tone was relatively light for the insults that he was throwing at himself.

”Have you told the school about it? And your friends MJ and Ned?” Tony asked, hoping that at least Peter had some people around him to protect and comfort him.

 “Ned and MJ know, but it’s not like they can do anything. He makes fun of them sometimes too. Not as much as me, but...” he paused for a second. “If I tell the school, it’ll only make things worse, so I’m not gonna risk it. Besides, Flash’s dad is a school governor so nothing’s gonna happen.”

”What about your aunt? Do you talk with her about this?” Tony asked further to get a better picture of both Peter’s school life and how much he talked about it with his only parental figure.

Peter pulled a painful grimace. “She already has so much to deal with, and... and to worry about, I wouldn’t want to add to that just cos someone’s calling me ‘Penis Parker’.” He said, becoming uncomfortable once more.

”Are you afraid that if you tell her about the bullying, she will become unhappy?” Tony asked. He rarely asked such a specific question, but he wanted to make Peter aware of the consequences of his actions and perhaps how not being open with the people around him was making his mental state worse.

 “Y-Yeah. Like, I don’t want her to worry about me like that, not when she has other stuff to deal with. So I just kinda... deal with it myself.” Peter replied, shuffling on the seat. “It’s not the worst thing to deal with, it... it could be a lot worse, so I just keep it to myself.”

”It sounds like a lot to keep to oneself.” Tony pointed out, approaching his point gently.

Peter shrugged at that. “I just don’t want people to worry. He’s an ass, sure, and sometimes it gets to me but what can I do? Better to just deal with it by myself than drag other people into it, that’ll just make it worse.”

”I see.” Tony said with a nod and gave up on changing the boy’s mind for now. He made a mental note to ask Peter about it again in a few days. When Peter didn’t say anything for a while, the doctor spoke up. ”There is something I can do, however, if you wish.” The doctor started, waiting until Peter looked up and met his eyes.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked up at the doctor when he spoke. “Please don’t say you’re going to tell May. You know I don’t want that.” He pleaded, his eyes widening as he became anxious.

”No, I won’t.” The doctor assured, shaking his head. ”Legally, I cannot tell her what you have told me in therapy, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Tony explained. ”No, I meant that I can write a note to your school, so that they will know what you have gone through and so that they will give you some... slack. Isn’t that what you call it?” Tony asked with a chuckle.

Peter shrugged, smiling weakly at the man’s joke. “You can if you want, I doubt it’ll make much of a difference.” He said quietly, lifting his legs to curl up into a ball on the chair.

”You’d be surprised over what a doctor’s signature can get you.” Tony said with a smile and gestured to himself. ”It’s all up to you what you want the note to say. I can for example make the school give you extra time on deadlines and extra help from your teachers. If you don’t feel like you need that, then it is still good to have an explanation for all your absence.”

Peter hummed, thinking it over. “I wouldn’t mind extra time for deadlines... I always have so much to do at home it’s sometimes difficult to get everything done on time.” He said, clearly deep in thought. “Alright, I’ll take the note. When will you write it?”

”Then I will write that.” Tony nodded in confirmation. ”We can write it together before you leave on Friday.” The doctor said.

 “Cool.” Peter nodded back, and so they sat in silence for a few minutes. “Can I, uhm, can I lie on the couch? My head hurts after talking about Flash Thompson.” He snorted, running his hand through his messy curls.

”Go ahead.” Tony said and waved his hand at the sofa in a welcoming gesture. ”Do you need a painkiller? We can fetch one from the medicine station.” The doctor suggested and followed the boy to the sofa, like it was the most natural thing. He places his hand on the boy’s forehead and then runs it down to the back of his neck.

 “Nah, it’s fine. It’s not a physical pain, it’s more of a... mental one. Like it hurts to be reminded that he exists, I was doing great when I forgot about him.” The boy laughed again, flopping forward onto his back on the couch. He purred and squirmed when the man’s hand found its way to the back of his neck, and it made the hairs there prick up.

”Right.” Tony chuckled and moved his hand to stroke at Peter’s cheek while gazing into his eyes. Before he could think better of it, he admitted quietly. ”I want to protect you...” The doctor widened his eyes when he heard himself and groaned out as he pulled his hand back and moved to that he wasn’t looking at Peter anymore.

Peter smiled gently at the man as he stroked his cheek, and soon his eyes were fluttering shut. When Stark said... _that_ , though, his eyes flew open. He saw that the man had instantly moved away from him and he struggled to sit up on the couch, leaning on his arms as he looked at the doctor. “Wh-What was that? What did you just say?” He asked, his stomach exploding into butterflies. He wasn’t quite sure he heard him correctly.

”It’s nothing! Just- just forget about it.” Tony grumbled, using his hands to cover his face. He hated how flustered he sounded, like a school girl. However, he couldn’t bare not looking at Peter when he felt him so close to him and moved his hands back. He turned his head to look at the boy and swallowed thickly.

 “Oh _come on_ , you’re sounding like me.” Peter said, turning his body so that he could face the doctor properly. “Please?” He asked, slightly amused at how the doctor was beginning to act like him when _he_  was embarrassed, covering his face with his hands. When Stark finally looked at him, he offered a gentle smile.

”For fucks sake...” Tony grumbled and cupped Peter’s cheeks in his hands to pull him into a kiss. The doctor took the boy by surprise, but soon their lips began dancing in sync and Tony felt himself relax at the comfort of feeling Peter so intimately.

Peter yelped when he was pulled forward into a kiss. He genuinely wasn’t expecting it, and so he was clumsy for the first couple of seconds before he got used to the rhythm and they were kissing comfortably. He pulled back for a split second to grin cockily at the Doctor. “What was it that Daddy said about swearing?” He teased, moving in to kiss him again before he could react.

”You...” Tony chuckled, gripping the boy’s curls in his hand and tugging just a bit. He kissed Peter for a while, feeling his racing heart slow down a bit and shoulders become less tense. Pulling back, he stroked Peter’s cheek while keeping the other hand in his hair. ”I said... I want to protect you... From everything.”

Peter’s cheeky smile was promptly wiped off his face when Stark tugged at his hair, causing him to whimper pitifully. “Oh God, that... that felt good.” He went back to kissing the doctor, leaning forward on the couch to do so, and remained in that position until the doctor pulled back again. He looked up at the man with his patented puppy eyes, desperate to be kissed again, but his eyes went wider when Stark confirmed what he said. “I... You...” he gulped. “You can’t protect me from _everything_ , Doctor Stark. It’s not possible.” He dropped his gaze for a moment, before speaking again. “You mean it, though?”

”I do.” Tony confirmed with a sigh, pressing his forehead against Peter’s. ”I’ve listened to so much abuse, so much trauma and outright heartbreaking lifestories without feeling anything, not really. And then... you come around.”

Peter frowned, thinking about what the man was saying. “But I’m not… I’m not anything special. I… I mean obviously I’ve gone through stuff, but… why am I any different? People have suffered worse than me.” He mumbled, closing his eyes when Stark’s forehead was pressed to his own.

”Because...” Tony started, but couldn’t find a better explanation than a few simple words. ”It’s you.” He sighed before adding. ”There’s something about you that I cannot put my finger on.” The doctor said truthfully, running his fingers through the boy’s hair.

Peter leaned into the touch in his hair, unable to resist purring again when Stark’s fingers scratched him where he needed it. “’m nobody special, Doctor.” He said quietly, opening his eyes to look at the doctor once more.

”You are to me.” Tony admitted and leaned closer to kiss Peter softly on his lips. Unlike most of their kisses, this one was delicate and slow. ”You’re special to me, Peter.” The doctor added in a murmur before kissing the boy again.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Peter smiled into the kiss, and his heart swelled as the man praised him. “Daddy…” That was the only warning he could give before tears started brimming in his eyes and running down his cheeks – whether they were happy or sad tears, he honestly couldn’t tell.

Tony was quick to scoop Peter up and onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him to hold him close. ”Daddy’s here.” He murmured, kissing Peter’s temple. ”I’m here and I got you. I got you.”

Peter curled up tightly in Stark’s lap, lowering his head to rest it against the doctor’s chest. He was still crying softly, but began babbling incoherently. The only words that could clearly be heard were “Thank you”, before Peter slowly stopped and sat sniffling on the man’s lap.

”What for?” Tony asked, a little baffled by Peter’s gratitude and what it was for. He rubbed the boy’s back as he calmed down.

“For… for bein’ so nice to me. And for, uhm… yeah. Just being nice to me, ‘n saying nice things. I don’t… don’t really deserve it, but you say it anyways.” He mumbled, his eyes closed as he tried to fight back further tears.

”But, you do deserve it, Peter.” Tony emphasised, squeezing the boy in his lap. ”You deserve all the good things the world has to offer.” The doctor said and kissed the boy’s temple. ”Daddy’s good boy...” He added with a murmur against the boy’s skin before kissing him again.

Peter whined when the doctor called himself Daddy, and he tilted his head up to kiss him properly. “I only want you.” He mumbled, pulling back for a moment. “The world can go to hell.” He grinned, aware of how cringey it sounded, but at that moment he couldn’t care less.

”You took the words right out of my mouth...” Tony chuckled and guided the boy back to his lips for another round of passionate kisses. The doctor was so fucked, but he couldn’t care less as he continued to hold his patient close.

Peter gladly followed the doctor’s directions, leaning in to kiss him once more. These kisses were a little more heated and passionate, and it was just what Peter needed as he squirmed hopelessly on the man’s lap. “D-Do that thing where you p-pulled my hair? Please? I’ve never...”

Tony smirked against Peter’s lips, taking his mouth up once more as his hand snaked up the back of the boy’s head. The doctor took his time with running his fingers through the brown curls before he closed his first around them and tugged firmly, but gently.

Peter sighed contentedly into the kiss, shifting a little on the man’s lap to get more comfortable. For a moment, he was worried that he’d asked for too much and that the man was more comfortable with just petting his hair, but then- “Oh, God!” He whimpered, his head tilting back and his lips parting. “F-Feels so good…!”

Tony chuckled at Peter’s reaction and took the opportunity to kiss the boy’s neck. Again, he used his teeth, but didn’t leave any marks.

Peter shivered at how lowly the doctor chuckled, and whimpered once more when he felt Stark’s lips and teeth dragging across the skin of his throat. He dropped his head back down once the doctor let go of his hair to catch the man’s mouth in another kiss, and continued to kiss him until he was completely breathless and had to rest his forehead on Stark’s shoulder.

”You okay?” Tony asked and huffed out a laugh, a little out of breath himself. He rubbed Peter’s back and squeezed the back of his neck to ground the boy, worried that he had said too much, which he honestly had, and that Peter was becoming overwhelmed.

“Uh huh…” Peter nodded, snuggling as close to the man as possible. “’m okay, ‘m just… ‘m happy, that’s all.” He murmured. He was, he was riding a dangerous high of endorphins and while he knew that it had to end at some point, he was holding on for as long as humanly possible.

”That’s good to hear.” Tony murmured, but did not mention how their time together was running out. Only five more days and then the boy would be out of his life, for good. The thought made Tony’s heart ache and he held Peter just a little tighter.

Peter hummed in agreement, before tilting his head to the side and up to kiss the underside of the doctor’s jawline. “So… when do we get to go swimming?” He asked, giggling quietly as he brought the topic back up again. He could be persistent when he wanted to.

”Like I said...” Tony chuckled, getting distracted with how good Peter’s lips felt along his jaw. ”Banner will have to ask him and then we can go in a few days, yeah?” The doctor said and ran his hands up and down the boy’s sides.

Peter huffed, but didn’t protest to that. He planted a few more quick kisses to the line where Stark’s beard met his skin, and then settled against his shoulder again. “I can’t wait.”

”Yeah? What are you excited about?” Tony asked, wrapping his arms around the boy, letting his cheek rest against the boy’s forehead.

“I miss goin’ swimming. And, uhm, I like hangin’ out with Loki a lot, so hopefully he finds swimming fun as well.” Peter said, bringing his hand up to run his fingers through Stark’s beard. “I dunno, I’m just excited.”

”Hmm.” Tony hummed, bouncing Peter on his lap. ”You like my beard?” He asked with a smile, scratching under his chin as the boy’s touch tickled him.

Peter grinned, nodding enthusiastically. “Bristly. And, uhm, it makes you, like, ten times hotter.” He said under his breath, flushing a bright pink and avoiding the doctor’s gaze in case the doctor started laughing at him.

Tony blushed a faint pink at the compliment and smiled down at the boy. ”Well then I won’t ever shave it off.” He promised, leaning down to kiss Peter on his nose.

“Softie!” Peter teased, laughing when the doctor kissed him on the nose. He pushed at the man’s face, squishing his cheeks and giggling at the faces the doctor made as he did so. “Biiiiig softie. Soft ‘n squishy ‘n goofy.”

Tony laughed at Peter’s silliness, trying to whip his head around to free his face from the boy’s prying hands. ”Am I not a big bad wolf? With big scary teeth?” The doctor chuckled and made a playful growl in the back of his throat.

Peter’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting this game, but he couldn’t resist falling into his character when Stark gazed at him with dark eyes. However, he felt a little bit cheekier than usual, so he dared to place his thumb on the man’s lips to pull them open. “I dunno… are your teeth _that_  scary…?” He said, giggling.

Tony snorted when Peter began poking his mouth and pulled back a bit, but did part his lips to show his teeth. ”You tell me, pretty boy.” He chuckled darkly, running the tip of his tongue over his upper front teeth before baring them.

Uh oh. Peter gulped, blinking once, then twice  as he gazed at the doctor. His eyes flickered between Stark’s own, which were dark and playful, then down at his pearly white teeth, which appeared sharper than usual. Maybe that was Peter’s mind playing tricks on him. “They… they are pretty big… big ‘n sharp…”

”Hm? How does the story go again? My, my, what big eyes you have?” Tony asked, bouncing Peter on his lap again as he tried to recall the classic fairytale.

Peter giggled, wrapping his arms around Stark’s neck to hold on as he was bounced on his lap. “Mhm… And then you say, ‘all the better to see you with’, and then… I say… ‘what big’… uhm… ‘what big _ears_  you have’!” He laughed.

”All the better to hear you with?” Tony guessed and bounced Peter again, liking the way the boy clinged to him. It made him feel important.

“Uh huh!” Peter laughed, his curls bouncing on his head in tandem to the rhythm that he was bounced on Stark’s lap. “And then…” Peter leaned forward, pushing at the man’s lip again to expose his teeth. “W-What big teeth you have…”

”All the better to eat you with?” Tony asked with a growl and snapped his jaws at the boy. ”Is that how the story goes?” The doctor asked so that Peter would continue telling him.

Peter gulped, becoming slightly breathless at how Stark’s grip seemed to get tighter around him as the story progressed. “Y-Yeah… And… and then…” Peter couldn’t finish, too focused on how the man’s teeth seemed to have a glint to them, and how his tongue kept running along their edges.

Fearing that Peter was becoming scared for real, Tony put on a smile instead and bounced the boy on his lap. ”And then what?” The doctor asked again, hoping a kinder face would get Peter to finish his sentence.

“And then… the wolf tries to eat Little Red.” Peter said, but then grinned. “But Little Red kisses him before he gets the chance!” He laughed, leaning in to kiss the man sweetly on the lips.

”Oh-” Before Tony could say anything, he felt Peter’s lips on his and moaned quietly. He grinned against the kiss, before relaxing his lips again and kissing the boy back just as sweetly. ”You cheeky little thing...” He murmured and kissed the boy again a few times before pulling back to glance at the clock. How was their time almost up already?

At being called cheeky, Peter giggled against the man’s mouth and pulled back for a moment. “You love it really.” He said, tapping the man’s nose with the tip of his finger. He noticed how Stark’s gaze shifted elsewhere for a moment, and so he followed it with his own eyes where he saw the clock. He deflated a little in defeat, knowing that the session was almost over.

”I know, I know...” Tony groaned, squeezing the boy close and stealing one last kiss before ushering the boy off of his lap to straighten his labcoat.

Peter accepted the last kiss graciously, but whined when he was shunted off of the doctor’s lap. He stood up, pulling at the hem of his hoodie and running a hand through his curly hair to try and subdue it, but to little effect. “You promise you’ll talk to Banner soon? About swimming?” He asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

”Yes, I will talk Banner about it later today.” Tony assured, finding Peter’s excitement beyond adorable as he looked down at him with a fond smile. Right on time, there was a knock at the door and Thor opened the door.

Peter flashed a toothy grin at the doctor before the door opened, and his head swivelled to see Thor stood in the doorway. “Thor!! You’ll never guess what…” Peter said, immediately heading to leave. He called out a “Bye, Doctor!” over his shoulder before the door swung shut behind him and he was excitedly telling Thor about swimming as they headed towards the main patient area of the facility.

”That sounds great, kiddo!” Thor smiled widely at Peter’s excitement. He had heard what Peter was like when he first arrived at the facility from what Steve and Bucky had told. In a way, he was happy that he had only really known an energetic and carefree Peter instead of the hollow and outright tragic version that Steve and Bucky had once known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: okay well i'm gonna need to make the chapters shorter otherwise we're gonna run out of chapters
> 
> also me: *newest update is 7k words long*
> 
> me: for fU-


	36. 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki discuss swimming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter today, but only cos tomorrow's chapter's gonna be fuckin' huge. like, 11k words huge.

After Peter’s second session of the day (which mainly consisted of small talk and copious amounts of making out), he left the doctor’s office and made his way towards Loki’s room. Stark had promised him that Banner had spoken to Loki about the possibility of them going swimming, and so Peter wanted to know what Loki thought about it. He arrived at the boy’s room and knocked politely, before peering in past the doorframe.

Loki was sat on his bed with a book in his lap, but he had had to read the page he was on three times as he couldn’t focus on what he was actually reading. His mind was somewhere else entirely, on a blonde muscular nurse... ”Oh... Hey, Peter.” Loki said, a little startled by the knock on his door and seeing Peter enter his room.

Peter grinned as he came in. “Heya, Lo! Has, uhm, has Banner spoken to you today about our next joint session?” He asked, taking a seat on the desk chair on the other end of Loki’s room, and swivelling it so he could face the boy.

Loki set his book aside on his bedside table before crossing his legs on the bed. ”Yeah... We talked about it. Did you talk about with Stark?” The boy asked, bringing a hand up to pull on his bottom lip.

 “Yup! I can’t wait, I’ve missed swimming soooo much!” He crowed, resting his arms on the back of the chair and resting his chin on his forearms. “He said it’ll probably be in a few days. Do you want to come?”

”Yeah, yeah... I said I want to go- Is just...” The boy stuttered out, fiddling with his lip as he blushed a light pink.

Peter frowned. “What’s up? You okay?” He didn’t move from his chair, not until he knew that Loki needed comforting. He also tried not to be _too_  prying, in case he scared the boy off.

Loki sighed heavily before speaking, glancing up at Peter in front of him occasionally. ”The docs, they have a policy and they always offer for us to choose our caregivers in the age regression stuff...” The boy explained, more than familiar with the workings of the facility after being in and out of it for years.

Peter nodded slowly, thinking about what the boy was saying. “Well, that’s good... right?” He asked a little uncertainly, watching Loki carefully. It took him a minute, but then it clicked. “So you can choose who you want to come swimming with you?” He said, his eyes widening in excitement and his body starting to bounce on the seat. “Lo, you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”

Loki’s mouth twitched up into a smile and he used his hand to hide it. ”I-I’ve thought about asking Thor to go with me...” The boy mumbled, squirming on the bed with nervous energy and excitement at the idea of going swimming with the nurse he had a crush on.

Peter squealed in excitement and immediately leapt off the chair to join the boy on the bed, poking him incessantly. “You gotta, you gotta, you gotta! It’ll be so fun!” He said, teasing the boy to get him to laugh. “And also you’ll get to see him in swim trunks.” He teased again, laughing.

”Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Loki groaned out, covering his face with both hands now as he flopped down on his bed.

Peter crowed with laughter as he watched Loki collapse onto the bed. “The dudes nothing but muscle, imagine what his chest is gonna look like!” He squealed, laughing at how Loki’s face (or what he could see of it) was turning a brighter and brighter red by the second.

Loki rolled onto his stomach to hide his face in his pillow and let out a muffled scream. With a huff, the boy sat up again, his face all red, but a stupid grin on his face. ”I want to ask him! I really do, but fuck... I mean... How can I handle it?” The boy pondered aloud, sitting up on his knees as he looked out the window.

Peter grinned, laughing loudly when the boy screamed. He took great joy in watching the boy freak out like this, especially when _he_ was always the one getting flustered over crushes. “It’s not that hard, Lo! You just make the request to Banner, right? You won’t even need to _see_  Thor to ask him, and plus you guys know each other from the other hospital, so it’s not like you’re asking a random stranger.” He explained.

”You’re not comforting me, puppy eyes!” Loki groaned, shoving the boy next to him playfully. ”I’m very much aware that we aren’t strangers. Oh, maybe I could ask one of the nurses that I don’t know.” The boy pondered, already making a plan in his head on how he could avoid seeing Thor _naked_ , even though that is exactly what he wanted deep down.

Peter yelped when he was pushed, falling backwards dramatically to land in his back. “What? Why would you ask someone you _don’t know_? That makes no sense! Come on, Lo, this is a chance for you to talk to him more. That’s what you want, isn’t it?” He said, still collapsed on his back.

”I-I don’t know! I don’t know!” Loki yelped, rubbing his face with his hands.

 “Okay, okay! Calm down, Lo, you’re alright.” Peter said, sitting up and resting his hand on the boy’s knee to gently comfort him. “I think you should do it. It’d be nice to see him outside of a place like this, right? But it’s all up to you if you wanna ask him or not, don’t feel like you have to just cos I’m saying it would be a good idea.”

Loki rolled his eyes fondly, glancing over at Peter with the blush still on his cheeks. ”I don’t know... I need some time to think about it.”

Peter nodded in understanding, patting the boy’s leg a couple of times before leaning back. “That’s cool. We’re gonna have fun anyway, regardless of who comes, right? You, me...” and Stark, his brain supplied. Then, very suddenly, the thought of Stark in swim trunks appeared in his minds eye, and the boy went gormless.

”Yeah, yeah. It’ll be cool.” Loki said, a bit lost in his own thoughts now that he remembered that Peter would be leaving soon. The boy hated the thought of his friend leaving him along at the facility.

Peter could tell that Loki was a bit zoned out, and so he carefully shuffled forward until they were sat side by side, and Peter dared to lie down with his head in the boy’s lap. He gazed up at Loki but didn’t say anything, knowing that he was in his own head right now.

Loki offered Peter a shy smile, but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t quite ready to admit how much he liked it when Peter was close to him. The boy made him feel more grounded, like he was living in present and not just stuck in his own head all the time.

Peter returned the smile easily. He liked Loki a lot, even if their first meeting wasn’t the best. He knew that Loki could understand what he was going through, and it was nice to have someone with him while he was here. He lifted his finger to tap the boy on the nose once. “Boop.”

The tap on his nose grounded Loki back i reality and he looked down at Peter with a bewildered expression before grinning. ”Are you little or what?” The boy asked teasingly.

Peter giggled. “Maaaaybe.” He said in a lilting tone, but then shook his head. “Nah, just bored. Bored and attention-seeking.” He said, dropping his hand back down to rest on the bed. “I’m like what’s-her-name... Tinker Bell. From Peter Pan? She dies if she doesn’t get enough attention.” He snorted.

Loki laughed out at that and held his stomach. ”Oh, shit! That’s so true! Attention whore is another fitting term.” The boy said teasingly, poking Peter’s cheek.

Peter rolled his eyes fondly at that. “Oh haha...” He said in a deadpan expression. He noticed how Loki’s finger kept poking his cheek and so he turned his head to bite down ever so gently on the boy’s index finger, holding the tip of his finger between his bared teeth. “Gotcha!” He said, trying to hold his finger as lightly as possible between his teeth so that he didn’t hurt the boy.

”Ah!” Loki yelped, laughing when he felt that the bite didn’t hurt, but still it felt odd and he pulled his hand back. ”You’re so fucking weird! No wonder you’re in _here_.” The boy giggled, but regretted what he had said when he thought about what he and Banner had talked about during the session the last few days.

Peter laughed as well, letting the boy pull his finger free. He pretended to act offended, before sticking his tongue out at the other patient. “Shu’up, _greaseball_.” He giggled, turning his head back to one side so that he couldn’t bite the boy’s finger again.


	37. 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the staff take peter and loki swimming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> b i g c h u n g u s c h a p t e r

Peter was buzzing the second he woke up. Stark had told him at the end of the second session the day before that they were going to be going swimming today, and so Peter had trouble going to sleep that night due to his excitement. When Rogers knocked on his door, he opened it already dressed and headed over to the canteen to find Loki.

Loki had mustered the courage to ask Thor to go swimming with his as his caregiver the day before and he felt very proud of himself for doing that. At the same time, he was beyond nervous for the joint therapy session and sat bouncing his leg nervously under the table. When he saw Peter walk into the canteen, however, he felt himself relax in an instant and waved shyly at his friend as he came over.

Peter saw Loki immediately and returned the wave with a huge grin on his face, grabbing his bowl of cereal and heading over to the boy’s table. “Hey!” He said, swinging his legs over the bench to sit down facing the other patient. “You lookin’ forward to today?” He asked, his feet tapping against the floor in excitement.

”Yeah!” Loki practically squealed, but lowered his voice as he did not want to draw attention to himself. ”Yeah, I am. You?” The boy asked, biting his lip to try and stop himself from grinning like an idiot.

It was nice to see Loki match his own excited energy for once, and it only made the grin on Peter’s face wider. “Yeah, ‘course I am!” He said, spooning some cereal into his mouth and chewing on it for a few seconds. “Did you end up making your request for who you want to come with you?”

At the question, Loki turned his head away from Peter for a few seconds before turning back to face him. ”I asked for...” The boy began, but snapped his jaw shut when Thor walked over, hands in his pockets and a bright smile on his face.

”Morning. You two ready for a dip after breakfast?” The nurse asked, looking at both patients in front of him, but mostly at Loki.

Peter leaned in to hear what Loki was about to say, but when Thor came over he sat up properly, watching the nurse warily. Why was Thor asking… Oh. Peter couldn’t resist the smug grin that was beginning to pull at his lips, and he gazed between the two of them. “I know I am. What about you, _Loki_?” He asked, his voice airy but teasing in a tone that Thor didn’t notice.

”Yeah! I-I’m ready.” Loki stuttered out, lowering his gaze quickly as his blush darkened a few shades.

Thor didn’t seem to be bothered. ”Good, that’s good. So, Stark will drive us up there in an hour or so. We’ll come fetch you then and your bags better be packed and ready before we leave.” The nurse said and headed off again with a smile. Loki let out a long sigh and groan once he was left alone with Peter again.

Peter nodded enthusiastically, humming with what Thor was saying as he spoke. When the nurse left, the grin didn’t drop off of his face and he turned to the patient. “So! Care to tell me who you invited to go swimming with us today, my dear friend Loki?” He said, the shit-eating look on his face looking utterly punchable, but he didn’t care.

Loki was _very_  tempted to flick his cereal spoon in Peter’s face, but didn’t in fear of the swimming trip being cancelled. Still, he couldn’t help but be humoured by the absurdness of what just happened to him. ”Shut up!” Loki squeaked, trying to hold back giggles.

Peter burst into laughter as well, seeing how flustered the other boy was getting by merely thirty seconds of Thor being near him. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop…” He said, still laughing faintly as he continued to eat his breakfast. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until both of their cereal bowls were empty. “We should probably go get our stuff ready, huh?”

”Yeah, we should.” Loki repeated, barely capable of making his own sentences because seeing Thor had left him so flustered. ”Why aren't you like... this?” Loki asked and gestured to himself.

Peter hummed, huffing a laugh at how the boy gestured to his own flustered-ness. “I dunno. I’m… I’m really excited for swimming. Like, the actual swimming. Also, I haven’t seen Stark today, so… I’ll probably be in the same boat as you when I see him.” He said, playing with his cereal spoon in one hand while drumming his fingertips of the other hand on the table.

Loki laughed at Peter’s use of metaphor. ”Same boat? In the pool?” The boy chuckled before turning more serious. ”Should we go?” Loki suggested, rising from his seat with his tray in his hands.

“Heeeey, they can have boats in pools! Like those inflatable ones!” Peter argued back, but followed the boy to stand up with his own tray clutched in his hands. They continued to argue about the metaphor for a little while, stashing their trays away and heading towards their separate rooms. “I’ll see you in a bit then?”

”Yeah, yeah.” Loki confirmed as he headed to his own room to get ready. Meanwhile, Thor went to see Tony in his office.

”The boys seem excited, practically vibrated in their seats.” Thor chuckled and Tony hummed his approval as he signed some papers.

”So they are getting ready now?” The doctor asked and the nurse nodded in reply.

Peter almost sprinted to his room to grab his supplies. He emptied out his backpack, shoving the contents of it onto his desk to sort out later, and headed for under his bed where he had his suitcase that May packed for him when he first came back to the facility. As he rummaged through it in search of his swim trunks, which she had brought along in another visit, he couldn’t help thinking about how the session would go. Would he be allowed to regress there? Would it be weird if he did? It’s not exactly therapy, so would the whole time be dedicated to them playing in the water? Of course, Peter’s mind wandered to how Stark would look in swim trunks, but he shook his head to get that particular thought out of his mind.

”So, Banner already briefed me on Loki, but is there anything you think that I should keep in mind?” Thor asked the doctor, settling down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

”Not really. Banner knows him best of course, but the most important thing for Loki is to set boundaries as he tends to push them when little.” Tony explained and Thor nodded along.

 “Aha!” Peter crowed, pulling the blue swim shorts out of the bottom of the suitcase. He gazed at them, wondering whether to change into them and then put his sweatpants over the top so that he could save time changing when they got there, but ultimately decided against it and chucked them over in the direction of his backpack. He also managed to find his goggles, which he also threw over to his backpack. He got up and headed to the bathroom to grab a towel, checking his reflection in the mirror as he did so. He wondered if Stark was a good swimmer.

”And what about Peter?” Thor asked and Tony sat back in his seat to think about an approriate answer, consider what he does with the boy behind closed doors.

”He is skittish when little, so he needs lots of reassurence, guidance and praise. I’m trying to get his self esteem up and now that he told me he used to swim a lot, I suggested we go swimming. Hopefully today we can help him get back to swimming, so that he has something to do when he leaves.” Tony explained to the nurse.

After shoving his swimming gear into his bag, along with a change of clothes for afterwards, Peter zipped up his backpack and left his room (though not before giving Spidey a goodbye cuddle). He headed down the hallway to Loki’s room, where he began knocking a drum beat against his door to get the boy to hurry up. “C’mon, Lo, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

”Sounds good, I’ll keep it all in mind.” Thor said, clapping his hands before rubbing them together. ”I can’t help but be excited too honestly.” The nurse admitted with a chuckle and Tony snorted in reponse, putting the papers aside.

”I bet you’re a beast in the water.” The doctor teased before getting up from his seat. While still chatting about the more practical stuff of the trip, Tony and Thor made their way to the staff members’ locker room to get their stuff.

Meanwhile, Loki groaned out when he heard Peter’s voice. ”Yeah, yeah! Gimme a minute, Mister sunshine!”

Peter grinned goofily as he opened the door to see Loki also looking through bags in search of something. He leaned against the doorframe, basically vibrating with excitement as he waited for Loki to get ready. It seemed like the grin on his face was never going to fade, and he was almost bouncing off the walls.

”Just stop moving already!” Loki laughed, throwing his towel at Peter, which only slowed down his packing.

Peter yelped when the boy’s towel hit him in the face, and he screwed it up before chucking it back in the other patient’s direction. “How about you move your ass?” He laughed, pushing himself off the doorframe and heading into the boy’s room. “Come on, Stark and Thoooor are gonna be waiting for us!” He said, making sure to put extra emphasis on the nurse’s name.

"So, shut up and stop slowing me down!" Loki laughed, folding up the towel lazily before shoving it into his bag. When the nurse was mentioned, the boy blushed and lowered his head.

Peter rolled his eyes at that. “You would’a been faster if you hadn’t thrown that towel at my head.” He snorted. He didn’t miss the way that Loki became more shy at the mention of Thor, but he didn’t bring it up. Instead, he just grinned and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet while he waited for Loki to get ready.

Loki shot Peter a glare, but didn’t say anything snarky. Popping into the bathroom for soap and such, Loki shoved it all into his bag and zipped it up. The boy sat back with a sigh and looked up at Peter.

Peter watched the boy walk around the room, and he couldn’t contain his excitement. When Loki finally settled down, having gotten everything ready, he gestured towards the door. “Should we... go ‘n see if they’re waiting for us?”

”It hasn’t been an hour yet, but sure, we can walk around at least.” Loki said, getting up from the floor and placing his bag on the desk chair. He headed out into the hall with Peter before he remembered something and snapped his fingers. ”Oh! And they’ll take us to the playrooms to get a toy or something to bring along.”

Peter followed the boy into the hall, but halted when Loki snapped his fingers. “A toy? I don’t... I can’t think of anything I’d wanna bring. Apart from Spidey... but he’s a stuffed animal, he’s got fur, that won’t do well in water.” He pondered, gazing at the boy while deep in thought.

”Oh, stuffies are fine too. I brought Titi-oo to a play thing we did a few months ago.” Loki said as he strolled down the hall. ”We might have to leave them in the car though.” The boy pondered aloud.

Peter grimaced at that. “I dunno... I dunno if I trust leaving Spidey in a car. What if someone steals him?” He said. He knew it was stupid, that anybody robbing a car would not go for the stuffed animal in the backseat, but he didn’t want to risk it. Not when the stuffie was the last thing that Uncle Ben gave him before he died.

”Hmm. Good point. I think I wanna bring Titi-oo.” Loki said, a smile tugging on his lips at saying the stuffie’s name. He couldn’t wait to regress once Thor and Tony came to get them and start their little trip to the pool.

Peter paused, looking at Loki. “...okay, maybe I’ll bring Spidey too. Can’t have one without the other, right?” He asked, smiling gently at the other boy. They continued to wander through the corridors, chatting about all sorts.

Once Thor and Tony had everything ready, they went searching for the two patients. It didn’t take long for them to find them and the two staff members approached the boys where they were sat on the window sill in one of the hallways. ”You guys ready?” Tony asked with a smile.

Peter and Loki eventually settled on a windowsill, sat facing each other with their backs to the walls either side of the window. They had their feet planted against one another and their legs in the air, trying to see who was stronger by pushing the other person’s legs towards themselves. They were laughing and teasing each other until Stark and Thor showed up, and they quickly dropped their legs to the floor and tried to act natural. “Y-Yeah, we’re ready!” Peter said, finally feeling some of the flustered feeling that Loki had felt earlier.

”Shall we drop by the playroom then so that you can pick out a toy or stuffie to bring along?” Tony suggested. ”I know that Loki wants to get Titi-oo. What about you, Peter?”

 “Uhm... yeah! Yeah, that sounds cool.” Peter said, getting up and off the windowsill and pointedly avoiding Loki’s gaze, which he _knows_  is going to be as smug as he was when Thor approached their table at breakfast. The four of them started to walk to the playroom, but then Peter remembered that Spidey was actually in his room. “Wait, lemme go to my room quickly!” He called over his shoulder as he ran in the direction of the south wing. Eventually he returned with Spidey clutched in his arms and one backpack strap on his shoulder.

The three others haulted to wait for Peter and once he returned, they continued to the playroom. Unlocking the door, Thor swung it open and Loki headed in to fetch Titi-oo. ”Do you want to bring anything else?” Tony asked Peter and gestured to the playroom.

Peter didn’t follow Loki into the playroom, only powered through the doorframe to look at the array of toys in the room. “Uhm... no, ‘m okay.” He said, cuddling Spidey closer to his chest while he used his other hand to hoist the backpack strap further up his shoulder. He watched as Loki grabbed the stuffed owl off of the shelf, and stood back to let him out of the room.

”All right. Then we are ready.” Tony announced and lead the way out of the facility and to the parking lot. Tony and Thor had already loaded their bags in the trunk of the doctor’s car, which was a sleek and white Alfa Romeo 159 TBi Ti model. It wasn’t the fanciest car ever, nor very spacious, but he drove around by himself mostly and loved it. ”Shotgun!” Loki cried out and was about to run to the car, but Thor grabbed his elbow. ”Hold on, you boys sit in the back.” The nurse tutted.

Peter followed the doctor out dutifully, and when he saw the car, his eyes widened a little bit. By everyone else’s standards, it was probably just a normal car, but compared to Aunt May’s old Nissan Cherry, this thing looked like a dream. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but was promptly sidetracked by Loki and Thor’s exchange. Both of the boys whined in protest at hearing they would have to sit in the back, but clambered in without much complaint. Once inside, Peter put his seatbelt on and prodded Loki to do the same.

Loki rolled his eyes, but copied Peter and craddled the owl stuffie in his arms, already slipping into his littlespace. Slipping into the car along with Thor, Tony checked Peter in the mirror and gave him a smile. ”You got Spidey, little one?” The doctor asked, hoping that would get the boy to regress.

Peter’s head whipped round at Stark’s voice, noticing how he was being looked at through the mirror. “Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah! He’s, uhm, he’s right here.” Peter said, lifting the stuffie up a little bit so that Stark could see. He was still incredibly excited, but nerves started to kick in. Should he try and show off when swimming? No, that’d be weird. Could he even remember how to swim? Yes, he could, what a stupid thing to think.

”Then we are all six and good to go.” Tony smiled and Loki bounced in his seat with glee once the doctor started the engine and rolled the car out of the parking lot and onto the road. ”Are we there yet?” Loki asked and giggled at the look Thor shot him from the passenger seat.

Peter could tell that Loki was beginning to regress already from the way that he seemed to become more expressive and excitable even just while sitting in his seat. He couldn’t resist smiling as well when Loki made his joke, but otherwise turned to gaze out of the window with Spidey clutched tightly in his arms. It’d been a few weeks since he had last left the facility, and so he just allowed himself to fall silent and take in the view as it rolled past.

Tony made some small talk with the nurse next to him as he drove along. He also glanced at the boys in the back now and then, smiling at seeing Loki hum a cartoon theme under his breath and how Peter watched the scenery go by with wide eyes. ”Looking for birds, Peter?” Tony asked, wanting to check how far Peter is regressing and if he needs some help doing so.

Peter found himself completely zoned out as he watched the world go by, his fingers hooked into the lip of the window as he gazed out. He watched the cars race by and the buildings speed past, and slowly but surely he had rested his temple against the cool glass. When Stark spoke to him, he blinked a couple of times, looking over at the doctor in the front seat. “Huh? Oh, n-no, ‘m just… ‘m just lookin’ at stuff.” He said quietly, drumming his fingertips against the window.

Barely regressed, Tony thought to himself and asked again. ”What are you most excited about, little one? They have some slides there, you know.” The doctor told his patient, hoping that would help him slip. ”Yeah, there's a blue slide that's super fun! You gotta go with me, Uncle Thor!” Loki exclaimed, bouncing in his seat again.

“Slides?” Peter asked, his interest perking up at that. The pool he used to go to didn’t have slides, it was just a regular indoor pool somewhere on the outskirts of Queens. “’m just… ‘m just excited to swim again.” He mumbled, bringing his hand up to put the tip of his thumb between his lips. His other hand pet Spidey’s fur slowly, as he continued to look out of the window.

Tony decided to leave Peter be for the rest of the ride, more or less happy that the boy is regressing, albeit a bit slower than usual. He figured it was due to nerves and being outside of the facility after weeks being practically locked away from the rest of society. ”Here we are.” Tony said as he pulled up to the parking lot of the pool, but did not let the boys get out of the car yet. ”Listen closely now, Loki and Peter.” Tony said, turning in his seat so that he can see the two patients in the back.

Peter didn’t even notice that Stark had stopped talking to him after that. Car rides had a weird effect on him, and he usually stayed silent for the entire ride unless someone spoke to him first. He liked it that way, it let his mind wander as far as it could while he had something to look at. When they arrived at the pool, Peter was snapped out of his daydreams by Stark’s voice, and he looked up at the doctor.

Once Tony had both of the boys' attention, he began explaining. ”Okay so, the pool isn't open to the public like usual today, but we get to go because this is therapy. You can be as little as you want, but Thor and I still expect you to behave as there are others doing their own therapy. Understood?” The doctor explained and Loki nodded, as he has done this before. ”There are people doing physical therapy!” He adds helpfully.

Peter listened with a soft frown on his face, before nodding at the end of the man’s explanation. He was beginning to get a little nervous at the prospect of other people seeing him regressed, but seeing that Loki was already beginning to regress helped him relax a little bit.

”Good, then lets head in!” Tony announced and everyone got out of the car to get their bags from the trunk. However, somehow Loki got Thor to carry his bag for him and skipped on the pavement leading to the entrance. ”You want me to take that, Petey?” Tony asked, offering to take Peter’s backpack and hoping the nickname would make him relax.

Peter gave Spidey an extra tight hug before he left the car, shoving him under the seat in front so that he knew nobody would try to take him while he was gone. He clambered out of the car and grabbed his backpack from the trunk, slinging it over his shoulder as they headed to the entrance. “Huh? No, ‘m okay, thanks… I-I don’t wanna be trouble.” He said timidly, offering the man a smile. He looked over at Loki who was well in front and couldn’t resist snorting with laughter at how excited he was.

Tony let Peter be, but made a mental note on his reasoning. The doctor started thinking about how he could get Peter alone with him to help him regress as he headed inside and walked up to the front desk. Both Tony and Thor showed their IDs from the facility and explained briefly why they were here. The man at the desk nodded and handed them all a wrist band each before buzzing them in without charge. Once again, Loki was ahead of them, skipping along and opened the door to the men’s changing room.

Peter stood behind the others as they approached the front desk, scuffing the toe of his sneakers against the floor awkwardly as he waited for the receptionist to let them in. When they were allowed through, Peter headed towards the men’s changing room with Loki, but felt a sudden hand on his shoulder holding him back.

Deciding to step in right away, Tony grabbed Peter by his shoulder to hold him back while Thor headed in with Loki. ”Peter, is something up?” The doctor asked, his eyes kind and studying the boy in front of him closely for any signs that he was distressed.

Peter blinked owlishly as he looked up at the doctor, biting down on his lip nervously. “’m just… ‘m just nervous. I dunno why. I’ll be fine, I-I’m just… yeah, ‘m nervous.” He mumbled, starting to pull on his lip.

”Tell me what you are nervous about.” Tony prompted, hoping Peter would give him a good answer so that he could reassure him. The hallway provided some privacy for now, but Tony didn’t know how long that privacy would last.

“Uhm, I just…” Peter paused, squirming awkwardly where he stood. “’m nervous about… about regressing in public. I-I know that this place isn’t gonna have the public in it, a-and that’s good, but… I’ve still never… you know…” He explained, hoisting his backpack back up his shoulder when it started to slip.

”That’s all right, Peter, and I understand that you’re nervous.” Tony comforted, placing his hand back on the boy’s shoulder and giving a gentle squeeze. ”You can stay aged up for now, if that makes you more comfortable. How does that sound?” The doctor suggested with a smile.

Peter thought it over, before nodding quickly. “Y-Yes please.” He mumbled, looking up at the doctor through his eyelashes with wide, shining eyes. He smiled gently at the feeling of Stark’s hand on his shoulder, and his nerves began to dissipate.

”Then you do that.” Tony assured and glancing in both directions of the hallway, the doctor leaned over to kiss Peter’s temple. ”Should we head in?” The doctor suggested.

Peter wasn’t expecting the kiss to his temple, and so he squeaked and turned a bright shade of pink when he felt Stark’s lips against his head. “Daddy!” He squeaked, looking up and down the corridor to see if there was anyone else in the hallway. “Y-Yeah, let’s go.” He nodded, heading towards the men’s changing room with Stark in tow.

Tony smirked at the title and felt quite pleased with himself and his ability to get Peter to relax. Using his wrist band to unlock one of the lockers, the doctor set his bag down. There was no one else in the changing room, but the door to the showers opened and Thor poked his head through. ”There you are. Loki’s growing impatient so we are heading on in.” The nurse said and the doctor nodded. ”We’ll be in shortly.”

Peter set his bag down on one of the benches in the locker room, his attention initially distracted by Thor suddenly appearing from the showers. He could only see the man from the neck up, and he imagined that Loki must be salivating right now. Or not even looking at the man. Suddenly, he realised something. He was going to have to get undressed in front of the doctor. He gulped, hoping that Stark didn’t notice his own internal freak-out at the thought of the doctor seeing him shirtless.

Tony tried his hardest to keep his eyes off of Peter, to give him some sort of privacy while he changed. The doctor busied himself with changing, folding up his clothes until he was naked and then swiftly pulled his swimwear on. Grabbing his stuff and placing it all in the locker, Tony took his towel into his hands and waited for Peter.

Right. Okay. Everything’s fine. Breathe. Peter started with his shorts first, quickly pulling his sweatpants and underwear off and shoving them balled up into his bag, before grabbing his swim shorts and pulling them on. That action alone took about 0.5 seconds, as he was terrified that Doctor Stark could turn around and see his naked ass. He then pulled his hoodie and t-shirt off together, leaving him shirtless and shivering slightly in the cold locker room. He grabbed his bag and pulled his towel out, heading over to the locker where Stark was standing.

”You need Daddy to help you out with the lock?” Tony asked, feeling quite confident using the title considering how Peter had called him that in the hall.

Oh, _shit_. Peter was so concerned with not slipping on the tile floors of the locker room that he hadn’t even registered that Stark was there. When he looked up, however, that was all he could see. Stark was _toned_ , and Peter suddenly felt so much skinnier and lankier standing next to him in his stupid swim shorts without a t-shirt on. He swallowed thickly and nodded, trying not to stare too much at the man’s chest.

Tony secretly hoped that Peter’s gaping expression and inability to speak was in awe of his naked figure. The doctor knew he was toned and handsome, some called him a narcissist for that, but he didn’t care. However, seeing Peter’s skinny figure, Tony couldn’t help but wish he could help the boy gain some more weight. ”There, like so.” Tony said, placing Peter’s belongings in the locker before locking it with the wrist band. Fastening the band around the boy’s skinny wrist, Tony patted Peter’s head.

Don’t look at his chest. Don’t look at his chest. Don’t look at his chest. Peter squeaked out a “Thank you!” when Stark sorted out his locker for him, but quickly snapped out of his stupid gormless expression when the doctor patted him on the head. “Heeeey! ‘m not _five_!” He said, ducking out of the man’s way and sticking his tongue out at him playfully. He still couldn’t quite get over the difference in build between them, and Stark’s broad shoulders and noticeable abs made Peter notice his own lanky frame.

 _Not yet_ , Tony thought to himself as he followed the boy into the showers. He put his towel on one of the shelves before picking one of the showers in a row of six. ”Remember to wash your body and hair well.” Tony reminded, letting out a sigh when the hot water hit his back, but he didn’t let himself relax too much. After all, he was working.

Peter followed suit, placing his towel next to the doctor’s and heading into the third shower along. He didn’t choose the one next to Stark’s, that would be too close and Stark would probably think he was being clingy. He stood under the warm spray for a while, before running his hands through his hair to send water through it. “I know, I know... Jeez, what are you, my _mom_?” The boy teased, glancing over at the man with a mischievous grin on his face.

Oh God, Tony had the perfect comeback, but debated whether he should actually say it. Putting his ethics aside felt easier now and looking at Peter, he gave the boy a half smirk. ”No, but I am your Daddy, so do as I say.” The doctor said, loving the thrill he got from being so dominating, let alone in a public space like a pool.

A cold chill that had nothing to do with the shower went running down Peter’s spine when the doctor said that. “I- You-“ He had no idea how to reply, his brain completely shutting down as he became tongue-twisted. Keep it together, Parker, keep it together! He gulped again, looking away from the man with a burning crimson face and trembling hands. The bratty attitude he was trying to develop on quickly vanished, and he was left standing under the spray of the shower, gaping like an idiot.

Walking over with a chuckle, Tony placed a finger under Peter’s chin to close his mouth. ”Hurry up and get washed. Don’t you wanna check out the slide?” The doctor reminded the boy.

Peter closed his mouth so hard that his teeth clicked when Stark gently pushed up on his chin. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and for a moment he was fully considering kissing the stupid smirk off of the doctor’s face. He couldn’t do anything, though, except simply turn away from the man, grumbling something incoherent as he continued to wash himself under the shower. “Gimme a second.”

Letting the boy wash himself in peace, Tony returned to his own shower and washed himself off, working out some of the soreness in his body from sitting by his desk for too long the night before.

Peter continued to glance over at Stark every so often, but otherwise managed to wash himself down in relative peace. After a few more minutes, he turned the shower off and grabbed his towel, running it through his hair and making the tufts of brown stick up in all directions. “Can we go now? Lo’s gonna be wondering where I am...” he whined, looking towards the door which led to the pool.

Turning off his own shower, Tony ran his fingers through his wet hair and nodded at the boy. ”Yes, now we are ready.” The doctor said, patting the boy’s head again and ushered him go the door that lead to the pool.

Peter was clearly staring at the man when he ran his fingers through his hair and _shit_ , that shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was. He went a little stunned again, and that stunned feeling was the only thing stopping him from protesting when Stark patted him on the head. As they entered the pool, Peter’s eyes widened. This place was... huge, bigger than his local pool, with slides in one corner and a huge pool with lanes right in the centre of the space.

The pool area wasn’t crowded, which Tony was relieved about. He could see a group of middle aged people in the biggest pool, doing some exercises in sync with the instructor. The doctor recognised one of them as a social worker he had been in touch with concerning a patient and smiled to her. To their left, Tony saw Loki with Thor in one of the smaller and more shallow pools.

Peter gazed around the entire building, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly ajar, but then a tap to his shoulder got his attention and he looked over to see Loki and Thor. “Lo!” He said, making his way over to the pool that they were in. He didn’t get in just yet, just teetered at the edge where he could see Loki and Thor already in the water.

”Peter, get in! We already went down the slide, twice!” Loki squealed, holding up two fingers with a wide grin.

”He screamed the whole way down.” Thor chuckled, wading up behind Loki as his feet reached the bottom and the water surface reached his hips.

”Don’t you wanna get in?” Tony suggested, walking over to the stairs and holding his hand out for Peter to follow him.

Holy shit. Peter’s brain genuinely rebooted when he saw _Thor_  shirtless. If Mr. Stark was toned, then Thor was cut from granite. He blinked a couple of times, before shaking his head. _Imagine if Stark got jealous of you staring_ , a traitorous little voice in the back of his head muttered, and Peter rolled his eyes to himself. “I mean, I was just gonna jump, but sure...” Peter timidly took the doctor’s hand and let him guide him into the water, wincing a little bit at the cooler temperature.

”I’m afraid there’s no jumping allowed in the shallow pools.” Tony said and once he was in the pool next to Thor, he pointed to the sign on the nearby wall which banned jumping in the small pools. ”You can jump over there though, but we’ll wait until they are finished.” The doctor explained, gesturing to the largest pool where the group of people were doing exercises.

Peter pouted at that, taking a few more steps into the pool and crouching down so that his shoulders were submerged under the water. He hissed again at the cool temperature, much cooler than the shower had been, but soon he was used to it after wading for a few minutes. He looked over at Loki, who was glancing at Thor every so often, and grinned.

Before Tony could ask Peter what he would like to do, Loki swam over to Peter and continued to swim around him like a shark. However, he had no mischievous intentions this time and grinned widely at his friend. ”Can you do a handstand underwater?” The boy asked, not waiting for a reply before he took a few steps back and did a handstand underwater, kicking his feet above the surface before returning up.

Peter followed the other boy’s swim circle by turning his body on the spot, giggling as he became slightly dizzy. He watched as Loki performed his handstand, grinning widely when the boy resurfaced. “Yeah, I can!” He swam backwards a little bit to clear a space for himself, before diving under and performing a simple handstand, his legs straight like a ballerina’s en pointe before he came back up from under the water. “I-I forgot how cold the water is!” He said, his teeth chattering and his hair now soaking wet again.

”Then you have to keep moving to stay warm.” Thor said and added. ”Can you do it again? That looked really impressive.” The nurse said with a smile and Tony nodded along. The doctor would have to keep in mind that Peter shouldn’t stay in the cool pools for too long, considering his skinny figure.

Peter blushed lightly at the praise, looking over at Loki who also seemed to be watching him. “I can... I can do other stuff as well. Like, uhm, like flips ‘n stuff.” He said quietly, scratching the back of his neck. He took a deep breath and went under the water once more, performing another handstand before appearing again a few seconds later.

”That looked great, Peter! You’re quite the acrobat.” Thor praised with a clap of his hands. Tony stood besides him and smiled proudly at Peter.

”Lets see who can do it the longest!” Loki suggested to Peter, but before he could answer, he started counting. ”3, 2, 1!”

 “Woah, woah, woah, hey! That’s cheating, I wasn’t ready!” Peter laughed, but the boy had already submerged underwater. With a quick glance over at Stark for guidance, Peter did the same and flipped up onto his hands. He was never particularly good at holding his breath, but he tried his best.

After 20 seconds, Loki flipped back above the water surface, heaving for breath.

”That was great, Lo. But next time, give Peter some time to prepare so that it's fair.” Thor reminded and Loki blushed as he nodded.

Peter appeared from the water a second or so before Loki, also panting. “You won, Lo!” He said, shoving the boy’s shoulder playfully before quickly swimming backwards so that he couldn’t get Peter back.

”Do you guys want to try again?” Tony suggested, hoping a bit of competition would help Peter regress.

 “Hmm, nah...” Peter mumbled, but he looked over at Loki with a cheeky glint in his eye. Very slowly, he made his way back over to the boy, placing his hand on his shoulder and uttering one simple word. “Tag.” He said, a grin on his face as the two of them stood staring at each other for a second.

Loki widened his eyes before he narrowed then as if he was a predator hunting prey. He leapt forward and threw his arms around Peter’s neck, dragging them both down into the water. ”You’re it!” And so the game of tag began and the two boys began thrashing around in the pool. Tony and Thor stepped back a little, keeping an eye on their patients.

Peter squealed when Loki grabbed him by the neck, and barely had time to recover before the boy had let go and was swimming away from him. He gave chase, quickly catching up and tapping him on the arm. “Gotcha!” He cried, before heading in the other direction. He was giggling so much that at the back of his mind, he was worried about inhaling the pool water, but for now he and Loki continued to move about the pool while Stark and Thor watched them.

”Good job setting the boundary for Loki.” Tony pointed out to the nurse with a hushed voice, although the two boys wouldn’t hear him if he spoke normally as they were so wrapped up in the game of tag.

”You’re not so bad yourself, Doc.” Thor chuckled before adding. ”You got Peter to regress even though he didn’t want to.” ”He just needed a little push.” Tony said with a shrug, turning his head to watch the boys, but also hide his smirk from Thor’s sight.

Peter and Loki were going back and forth, back and forth, and both boys were giggling wildly while they played. At one point, Peter was tagged and Loki was some considerable distance away, so he took the moment to catch his breath and look over at Stark and Thor. He could see Stark’s infamous smirk from a while away and it made him a little flustered, but gave him energy to continue chasing after the other patient. He launched himself in Loki’s direction, reaching out to grab his ankle.

Loki shrieked with a laugh when he was grabbed and tried to kick his leg free. ”Let go!” The boy laughed, hopping on one leg in the pool. Looking behind them, Tony saw that the physical therapy group were leaving, which left the biggest pool free for the boys to jump into if they wished. ”Boys, the big pool is free now.” The doctor pointed out.

Peter giggled as he shook his head, his wet hair sticking to his head. “Never! ‘m not lettin’ go!” He squealed, being dragged along by the hopping boy. When Stark said that the big pool was free, Peter dropped Loki’s leg. They looked at each other for a split second, and immediately swam to the edge of the pool they were in, racing each other to see who would get to the bigger pool first.

”No running, boys!” Thor warned with a chuckle and Tony winced as he feared one of the would slip on the wet tiles.

Luckily, everything seemed to go fine and Loki climbed up on the diving board. ”Watch me!” The boy demanded.

Peter slowed down a little when Thor called after them, and watched as Loki scaled the diving board. That board looked high... he gulped, watching as Loki leapt off of it and landed in the pool water, while he stood awkwardly to one side, debating whether to go up.

While Thor hopped into the pool calmly, Tony remained on the sides and walked up to Peter by the diving board. ”Do you want to try too, Peter?” The doctor asked, seeing Loki resurface and swim over to Thor who showered him with praise.

Peter looked over at Thor and Loki together, then over to Stark, who was now stood next to him. “I, uhm... I would, but...” Peter leaned in to whisper in the man’s ear. “I don’t like heights, Daddy.” He mumbled, his gaze shifting up to where the diving board seemed to stand a million feet above him.

”That’s all right. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Tony assured with a smile, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

”Come on, Thor!” Loki laughed, practically dragging the nurse out of the pool and up onto the diving board again.

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but then the sound of Loki’s voice interrupted him and he swivelled to watch the two of them get out of the pool and make their way to the diving board. Peter looked back at Stark and shook his head gently, before sitting down on the edge of the pool and sliding into the water that way. When he was in, he dared to reach out and tap the man’s shin. “Tag. You’re it.” He said, grinning expectantly.

”Ohhh... You’re in for it now, pretty boy.” Tony chuckled as he climbed into the pool too, letting the boy get away for a second before chasing after him. The water was deeper in the big pool, but Tony could still reach the bottom.

Peter giggled wildly as he began to swim backwards, checking behind him every so often to make sure that he wasn’t about to bump into anything. When he saw Stark’s evil grin and how quickly he was able to move through the water, he gulped and immediately began to kick faster, trying his best to outswim the man.

”Mr Wolf is gonna get you...” Tony said in a sing song voice as he swam after Peter. ”Where are you going?” The doctor growled playfully as he got close enough to the boy to grab him around his waist and spun him around in the water.

Peter couldn’t keep the distance for too long, and he shrieked when the doctor grabbed him around the waist. “No, Mister Wolf! Noooo!” He squealed, trying to hit his weak fists against the man’s shoulders. He was giggling the entire time, and being this close to the man’s naked chest made him a little flustered, but for the time being he was more concerned that the Big Bad Wolf had caught him.

Tony continued to drag Peter around in the water for a moment, trying to make him disoriented before letting him go. In the meantime, there were two big splashes at the other end of the pool where Loki and Thor jumped in together from the diving board. Both resurfaced and gasped for air, laughing about how fun the jump was.

Peter continued to laugh his head off as he was spun in circles. When Stark let go, he drifted off through the water, blinking dazedly and still giggling. “I-I didn’t know Mis-Mister Wolf could swim!” He said, wading with his arms slowly so that he stayed afloat. He looked over at Thor and Loki who had just resurfaced and smiled genuinely. Even when regressed, he could tell how much Thor meant to the other boy, and it made his heart warm.

”Oh, wolves are great swimmers.” Tony pointed out, which was very much true. ”Sometimes the pretty boys hide in the water because they think I can’t swim. How silly of them...” The doctor growled playfully before leaping forward to catch Peter again.

Peter turned just in time to see Stark leap at him, and he flailed backwards to try and get out of his way. “N-No! N-Ahah!” He squealed, trying his best to escape the man’s clutches. He wasn’t expecting this game, not when Thor and Loki were here too, but for now he focused on trying to get away from the Doctor, though it wasn’t really working.

Spotting a large basket of water toys and mattresses to play with, Loki climbed out of the pool and went to see what fun stuff he can find. Grabbing the floating mattress, the boy returned to the pool and threw the mattress on top of the water. ”Peeeteer!” Loki cried. ”It’s a boat!”

Peter was so caught up in trying to escape from Stark’s grasp that it took him a couple of seconds to realise that someone was calling his name. When he turned and saw the floating mattress, his eyes widened in excitement. “Oh, _cool_!” He cried, immediately forgetting about his game with Stark to swim over to the inflatable. It took him a couple of tries to mount it, but eventually he managed to swing his leg up and onto it, and shuffled until he was sat on it properly. “Lo, get on!” He said, paddling himself along with his hands to where Loki was stood at the edge of the pool.

Loki jumped onto the mattress, causing it to tilt a little but not to tip over. Sensing a change in the game, Thor and Tony swam closer and exchanged a few hushed words. ”They look like sharks.” Loki whispered to Peter sat next to him on the mattress with a giggle.

Peter gripped tightly onto the mattress when Loki jumped onto it, but otherwise stayed steady. At Loki’s words, he looked at the two men still in the water and laughed, sharing a look with Loki. “Yeah... like we’re pirates and they’re gonna... gonna try ‘n get us!” He said, sticking his tongue out at Stark when he caught his eye.

”Should we try tip them over?” Tony asked Thor in a hushed voice and the nurse nodded eagerly in response. Together, the doctor and nurse began circling the mattress while grinning up at the two boys.

”Thor?”

”Hm?”

”I’m hungry for some pretty boys. Do you see any around here?” Tony pondered aloud as he circled the mattress, not looking up at Peter and Loki yet.

”Up there!” Thor said and raised a hand up from the water to point at the two patients.

Peter gulped as he noticed the doctor and nurse advancing towards their “boat”. He nudged Loki and pointed in their direction. “I think the sharks have seen us!” He stage-whispered, gripping the edge of the inflatable and peering over to look into Stark’s dark and playful eyes. It was like looking into two deep, dark pools and Peter was speechless for a second before Loki’s squealing brought him back into the real world. “Nuh uh! You aren’t gonna eat us!” He cried.

”You boys sure about that?” Thor teased and swam up close to the mattress, placing both hands on the edge and rising up from the water. Tony did the same on the other side and chuckled darkly at Peter and his wide eyes.

Peter and Loki both shuffled towards the centre of the mattress at the same time, but tried their best to push down where Thor and Stark were pushing up on the mattress to counteract the doctor and nurse. The dark laughter from the doctor made shivers run up and down his spine, but he tried his best to keep a determined face. “Y-Yeah! Right, Lo?” He said, looking over at Loki, who was gazing at Thor with equally terrified eyes.

”Yeah, yeah!” Loki said, although not very convincingly and the doctor and nurse shared a look. Thor moved to push down on the side of the mattress, while Tony pushed up on the opposite side, causing the mattress to flip and Loki and Peter fell off and into the water.

Peter shouted when the mattress suddenly flipped, sending him and Loki splashing into the water. He tried to resurface as quickly as possible, but he saw Stark swimming over to him and he froze in place.

”Tasty little snack...” Tony growled with a grin on his face as he swam over to Peter. Grabbing the boy by his waist, the doctor tossed the boy around in the water again. Loki was no better off as he got the same treatment from Thor. ”How nice of you to come swimming with us sharks, little pirate!” Tony laughed.

Peter tried to swim away from the doctor as best he could, but soon he was swept up into the man’s arms and thrown back into the water. He squealed when he hit the water, and barely had time to recover before Stark was chasing him down again. “N-No! You can’t e-eat me! I won’t let you!” He giggled.

\---

After another 45 minutes of playing in the pool, both Peter and Loki were beginning to flag with exhaustion. They were swimming a lot slower than before, and so it was time that they got out. Peter had loved the experience, glad to have gotten back in the water after such a long time. It was slightly different to what he was used to, seeing as he usually did lanes when he went swimming. Plus, it wasn’t every day that you got the whole pool to yourself. He hoisted himself back out of the pool and padded over to the showers to wash the chlorine out of his hair.

Tony and Thor had both been worried about how the boys would handle leaving the pool, but to their surprise it was their suggestion to leave and there was no arguing, which pleased the doctor and nurse. Following the two boys into the showers, Tony and Thor exchanged a few words.

”That went well.” Thor pointed out with a smile and Tony nodded in agreement.

”Yes, I think it went really well.”

Peter padded along to the showers, pool water dripping off of him, and as he entered one and turned it on, he sighed in relief. The feeling of warm water after being in cold water was heavenly, and for the first minute or so he simply stood under the spray and allowed it to pound down again his back.

Tony could see that Peter was deep in his thoughts and let him be for now and ask about the joint therapy later. Loki was still bouncing with some energy around Thor, blowing shampoo bubbles at him. ”Hey, hey. Keep the soap in your hair, yeah?” Thor suggested with a chuckle and Loki obeyed with a giggle.

Peter eventually began to wash his hair properly, borrowing some of Loki’s shampoo to run his hands through his hair, still in silence. He smiled gently at how Loki was still goofing around, but was too tired to join in. Luckily, Loki’s shampoo seemed to be a body and hair combination, so he simply used the remaining bubbles from his hair to wipe down his chest.

”Look! I’m a rockstar!” Loki said, pushing his foamy hair up and pretended to play on a guitar. Thor laughed as he watched the boy and so did Tony.

”Can you do the same, Peter? Your hair seems long enough.” Tony pointed out, trying to see how far Peter was regressed or if he was at all.

Peter blinked slowly. “Hm?” He hummed, turning to see Loki with his hair stuck up in all sorts of directions. “Lemme see...” He grabbed a little more shampoo to run it through his hair, bending over to tip his hair upside down before he spiked it upwards. He stood the right way up and his hair began to droop a little bit, but otherwise seemed to stay in position. “‘m not sure my band teacher will like me turnin’ up to practice looking like this...” he snorted, pulling at the ends of his hair to get it to stay up.

”I think that looks really cool.” Tony laughed and lifted one of Peter’s curls back up. ”So, how do you boys think the pool was?” Tony asked and Loki immediately answered.

”It was awesome! I wanna do the slides again next time! Oh, and you gotta be the sharks again. I liked it when you tipped us over.” Thor nodded along as he listened to Loki, then turned to Peter.

”What about you, kiddo?”

Peter paused when Stark leaned forward to lift his hair up off his face, and he hoped the look of “lovesick puppy” as Loki liked to call it, wasn’t too visible to the nurse and the other patient. He listened to Loki, thinking about his own answer, and when Stark turned to him he hummed. “Uhm... Yeah, I... I liked the sharks. And, uhm, I liked playing tag with Lo...” and you, Peter finished the sentence in his own head.

”Yeah, Thor and I had quite a lot of fun watching yours silly faces before we tipped you over.” Tony chuckled and Thor nodded and imitated one of Loki’s faces, which humoured the raven-haired boy quite a lot.

Peter laughed along at Thor’s impression of Loki, before turning back around to turn the shower off. The last of the bubbles went down the drain and he went to grab his towel, tousling his hair with it to get it to dry quickly. He dried himself off and headed to the locker room, glancing behind him to check that the others weren’t far behind.

Tony followed Peter into the changing room, toweling himself dry swiftly and used his wrist band to open his locker. Thor and Loki were still in the shower as the boy demanded that the nurse should help him rinse out his hair.

Peter stood back a little bit so that Stark could get to his locker, then went forward to open his own. He hauled his backpack out of it, and looked around for a private place to change. He gulped, realising there were no booths and there was only the open space with the benches bracketing the edges. He set his stuff down on one side and paused as he thought about how best to maneuvre this bit.

Once again, Tony let Peter be to change, although he would want to study the boy’s skinny figure all day and all night if he could. Instead, the doctor changed swiftly into his underwear and pants, then lifted his towel to his hair to dry it off.

Peter glanced over at Stark to make sure he wasn’t looking at him, and then quickly yanked his swim shorts off and changed into his underwear in record speed. He then put on his sweatpants, letting them sit loose on his hips while he rummaged through his bag for the science pun t-shirt he planned to change into. Once he was dressed, he turned to find Stark also dressed and still not looking at him, which was a relief.

”You okay?” Tony asked, buttoning the cuffs of his shirt and studied Peter in front of him. He hoped Loki would keep Thor occupied a little longer in the shower.

Peter ran a hand through his still-damp hair, trying his best to shove it out of his eyes and huffing when it fell back into place. “Yeah, ‘m fine.” Peter looked back over to see Stark watching him, and he immediately felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach. “Th-Thanks for… for taking us here.” He mumbled. The urge to kiss the man was so powerful that Peter had to physically will himself to stay where he was stood.

”You’re very welcome, Peter.” Tony said softly, smiling genuinely at the boy. The doctor wanted to kiss and hold the boy tight to his chest, but he doubted that was a good idea.

Their little moment came to an end when Loki burst into the changing room, giggling as he waited for Thor. Both had their towels wrapped around their waist and the nurse looked at Peter and Tony.

”Oh! You guys are already dressed. Lets hurry up, bud.” The nurse prompted to Loki.

”We’ll wait right outside. It’s getting hot in here.” Tony said and grabbed his bag, looking at Peter to see if he would follow.

Peter got a little lost in the man’s smile, and it took Loki bursting into the changing room to pull him out of his reverie. He blinked as they came in, and followed Stark’s movement of picking up his bag. He glanced over at Loki, who seemed to have blushing cheeks, and grinned. He’d have to ask about it later. He followed Stark out of the changing room into the corridor, holding tightly to one of the straps of his bag.

”You look tired, little one.” Tony pointed out with a light chuckle and led the way to a bench in the lobby area. Opening up his bag, he offered a bottle of water to Peter. He had thought of everything, as usual.

Peter nodded in response, mindlessly following the doctor to the bench. He sat, or rather collapsed on it, blinking and looking up at Stark when a water bottle suddenly appeared in front of his face. “Oh, thanks…” He said, taking the bottle and swigging from it quickly before handing it back. The nickname was pushing him back into littlespace a little bit, but he didn’t comment on it.

The lobby was empty, except for the receptionist, but he looked busy, so Tony asked Peter. ”Do you want to rest for a bit?” The doctor asked and patted his shoulder, gesturing for Peter to lay his head on it.

Peter glanced around the lobby to make sure nobody was looking, before shuffling along the bench so that they were sat side by side. He rested his head against the man’s shoulder and hummed contentedly, letting his eyes close as he drifted off into a daydream.

Tony sat back a little so that he was comfortable before Peter placed his head on his shoulder. Looking down at the boy, the doctor almost cooed aloud when he saw the boy’s eyes flutter shut. Peter was so goddamn adorable that Tony felt his heart ache just a bit.

Peter spent a few minutes with his eyes closed, breathing a little deeper as his exhaustion caught up with him. He dozed off intermittently, mumbling slightly under his breath as his daydreams floated around his head. A few seconds later he opened his eyes to see Stark looking at him and he cleared his throat awkwardly, looking away from the doctor.

Tony was about to say something to Peter, but before he could Loki skipped over with Thor a step behind him. ”Can we get McDonalds? Please, Tones!” The boy begged, putting his hands up in prayer.

Thor came up to them, looking apologetic. ”I don’t know where he got the idea from, honestly.” The nurse chuckled.

Peter’s head whipped around to see Loki and Thor approaching, and he quickly sat up and away from Stark. “McDonalds…?” Peter said, and suddenly he remembered that he hadn’t had fast food in two months. “Oh, yes, yes, yes, pleeeeeease!” He said, bouncing on the bench and grabbing onto Stark’s arm to shake him. “I haven’t had it in soooo long, come on!”

Tony wondered how it would look that he gave in to his patients’ demand to go to McDonalds in the report that he would have to write later, but didn’t ponder on it for long as his own exhaustion was starting to kick in. ”All right. We’ll go, but only this one time!” The doctor said, but doubted the boys heard him over their excited laughter.

Peter squealed with joy and leaned forward to give Loki a high-five, grinning up at the other boy. Their energy was quickly renewed, and Peter couldn’t wait to eat McDonalds again. In a weird sense, it was like a taste of home, and it always reminded him of random weekends with Ned and MJ, spending hours wandering around Queens and eating chicken nuggets.

”You want anything?” Tony asked as he and Thor walked to the car after Peter and Loki who suddenly got the energy to race to the car.

”From McDonalds? Oh, hell no.” The nurse chuckled, making some gagging noises and Tony laughed.

Peter ran to the car with Loki, drumming on the car door impatiently as they waited for the doctor and nurse to catch up. When Stark opened up the trunk, Peter put his backpack in immediately and clambered into the backseat of the car. He instantly reached under the seat to search for Spidey, and when he found him he sighed in relief. “Missed you, Spidey…” he mumbled, cuddling the stuffie tightly to his chest.

Once in the back of the car too, Loki took Titi-oo into his arms and cuddled the owl stuffie. Thor and Tony followed suit and got into the car and soon they were on the road again and made a quick stop to a McDonalds on the way. ”How about a happy meal, boys?” Tony asked, glancing up at the mirror to see Loki and Peter in the back. The doctor hoped that they wouldn’t start arguing for a bigger meal.

Peter settled back in his seat happily once they were on the move, his arms wrapped around Spidey and his head resting against the window. “Huh?” He said, looking up to see Stark looking at him through the rearview mirror. Initially, he wanted to speak up and ask for something a bit bigger, but the more he thought about it… “Yes, please. Can I, uhm, can I have chicken nuggets?” He asked.

”Sure thing. And you, Lo-”

”Cheeseburger!”

”All right, the orders have been noted.” Tony chuckled and continued to drive. A few minutes later, the doctor pulled up to the drive thru and got the food for the boys.

Thor passed it over to them in the back. ”What do you say?” The nurse prompted.

Peter waited patiently as the food arrived, and gladly took the little cardboard box when it was handed to him. He peered into it and instantly saw plastic wrapping, meaning he had gotten a toy in the box as well. He pulled it out and peered at it curiously. It was a little teddy bear, and Peter cooed at it quietly before unwrapping it from the plastic and putting it next to Spidey. He then pulled out the little bag of chicken nuggets, and his stomach growled. “Thank you, Duh-... Daddy.” He mumbled, but he knew Stark heard him.

”Thank you, Thor!” Loki cried out with glee, opening his own box and finding a little teddy bear of his own, but his was light blue.

”You’re both welcome.” Tony chuckled, having heard which title Peter used and half smirked as he pulled the car back on the highway to head back to the facility.

Peter almost inhaled his food, he was so hungry. He didn’t say much on the car ride back to the facility, simply eating fries and gazing out the window. He propped his little teddy bear up on the lip of the window so that it could look out onto the highway while they drove, and soon Peter had finished his food and was sat dozing off in the backseat.

Loki finished his own food soon after Peter and the backseat got very quiet after that. Both the doctor and nurse glanced over at the boys now and then, smiling softly at seeing them so exhausted, but content as they dozed. Pulling up to the facility parking lot, Thor moved his arm to nudge Peter and Loki’s knees to wake them. ”Boys, we’re back.”

Eventually, Peter’s eyes shut and he was dreaming of pirates and sharks with shining eyes and cocky grins. It took a couple of seconds to wake up, mumbling incoherently as he opened his eyes and saw they were in the facility parking lot. He rubbed the sleep dust out of his eyes and looked at Stark through the mirror, who also seemed to be looking at him.

Tony gave the sleepy boys a minute to gather themselves before stepping out of the car. Opening the trunk, Tony took his own bag as well as Peter’s, considering how tired he looked. Thor did the same with Loki. ”I think a proper rest is in order, yeah?” The doctor suggested as he led the way back inside the facility, using his keycard to get through the locked doors.

Peter blinked a couple of times before getting out of the car slowly, clutching Spidey and his new teddy bear in his hands. He opened his mouth to protest against Stark taking his bag, but accidentally yawned instead. That was enough to make Peter decide that maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to have a nap, and so he simply followed the doctor into the facility.

The two staff members went their separate ways with the patients as Tony followed Peter to the south wing and Thor followed Loki to the east wing. ”We have another session later today, remember?” Tony reminded as he let Peter open the door to his own room before entering and setting the bag on the chair.

Peter waved a little goodbye to Loki and Thor before turning down towards the south wing, checking behind him to see if Stark was still following him. Once they were in his room, he snuck around to close his bedroom door and immediately came forward to kiss the doctor, more desperate than he had ever been.

Before Tony knew what was happening, Peter’s lips were against his own, but he quickly recovered and acted automatically when he kissed the boy back. It was a desperate kiss, the doctor felt that and he finally let his own desires show, after holding them back for so long, and pulled Peter close to himself.

Peter whimpered when he hit Stark’s chest, but refused to stop kissing him until he ran out of air. “I-I’m sorry, I…” He didn’t move from where he was pulled against the doctor. “I c-couldn’t help it, I-I-I just…” He babbled, gripping the man’s shirt.

”Just shut it...” Tony said fondly with a chuckle before leaning down to kiss Peter again, silencing him and making him moan instead by sucking his bottom lip.

Peter was about to argue back, but then Stark’s lips were on his and he couldn’t speak. He whined as Stark took his bottom lip into his mouth and suddenly his hands were grabbing tighter to the man’s shirt, desperate to be as close to him as possible. “D-Duh…” He couldn’t speak, exhaustion and a need to be close to the man making him speechless.

Tony felt how Peter began to gradually lean on him more and more, and as much as he wanted to continue to kiss the boy, he would fall asleep on the floor if he didn’t do something soon. Leaning down a bit, the doctor took his patient into his arms and carried him to his bed.

Peter didn’t object to being carried to his bed, but when Stark moved to let go and move away, he whined in protest. He tugged the doctor down so that he was sat on the mattress while Peter was laid down, and made grabby hands for Stark to lean in and kiss him again.

With a light chuckle, Tony leaned down to kiss Peter again, tucking him in at the same time. ”You need to rest, little one.” He said softly, kissing the boy’s nose and hoping he was still in little space. The boy was beyond adorable when he allowed himself to regress and Tony daydreamed of a reality where Peter could be his little boy all the time.

Peter smiled sweetly when Stark kissed him again, but that smile turned to a pout when he was told to rest. “Don’t wanna… Wanna… be with Daddy…” He mumbled, his tiredness pushing him into little space more than he was previously. However, his exhaustion soon caught up with him as his eyes slid shut and he began to snore ever so softly.

Tony sighed when Peter fell asleep and watched the boy for a moment. Very gently, he tucked a loose curl behind his ear, leaning down to kiss his forehead. Reluctantly, the doctor got up from the bed and made his way out of the room quietly. Tony felt how light his heart felt as he walked to his office to make a report on the joint therapy at the pool.


	38. 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony have an altercation.

Peter awoke a few hours later, Spidey clutched in his arms while his other teddy laid at the other end of the bed. He sat up groggily, looking around the room in confusion. How long had he been asleep? Did he imagine Stark kissing him on the nose before he fell asleep? He slowly leaned over onto his bedside table to get his borrowed ‘IT’ book, but as he tried to read it, his mind kept coming back to Doctor Stark over and over again.

A few hours passed and Tony ate lunch, wrote the report about the session at the pool and tended to some patients. Checking his watch, he saw that it was time to see Peter again and he alerted one of the nurses to bring the patient to his office.

Peter eventually gave up on reading his book, and instead just laid in bed with the book open on his stomach, gazing up at the ceiling. It was times like this that he really wished he had his phone on him just so he could listen to music, the silence of the room really getting to him. He was humming tunes to himself, one after the other, before he heard a knock on the door and Bucky poked his head in to tell him it was time for his session. He rolled out of bed and put his sneakers on, before following the nurse to Stark's office.

”So, how was the pool?” Bucky asked as he escorted Peter to the doctor’s office. ”You look tired, but it sounded like you had fun based on what Loki told me.”

"Loki spoke to you...? Willingly?" Peter raised his eyebrows, looking impressed. "He must've been in a good mood, then. Yeah, it was really fun. And yeah, 'm tired. I took a nap but I'm still kinda sleepy." He said. "Didn't miss me too much while I was gone, did you?" He asked cheekily, grinning up at the nurse as they walked side by side down the corridor.

Bucky gave Peter a cheeky look, but did not answer his questions. ”Here we are then.” The nurse announced and knocked on the doctor’s office door to let Peter in. ”I’ll fetch you later then, buddy.” Bucky said and headed back the way they had come.

Peter grinned at the nurse. “Alright then, keep your secrets.” He said, imitating Frodo from Lord of the Rings. “I know I’m your favourite anyway!” He called out as Bucky headed down the corridor, and then turned to see Stark staring at him. “Oh, hello.” He said a little awkwardly, trying not to laugh when he thought about the look that Bucky had given him before he left.

”Something funny, Parker?” Tony chuckled almost casually. He was getting very comfortable with Peter now. Maybe even too comfortable. The doctor stood up from his desk and headed to the pair of chairs.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He drawled, also heading to his usual chair and sitting down in it lazily. Peter liked acting like this with Stark, being cheeky and mischievous and knowing that the man could take it and give it back.

Tony chuckled again as he settled into his chair and eyed the boy in front of him. ”How was your nap?” He started.

Peter shrugged. "It was alright. I'm still a bit sleepy..." he interrupted his own sentence to yawn, then gestured to himself in a 'see what I mean?' manner. "But yeah, I'm alright. My limbs ache a little bit, but like... in a good way? I missed swimming."

”Yeah, so do mine.” Tony laughed with a shrug of his shoulders. ”Missed swimming, huh? Tell me more.” The doctor prompted, hoping Peter would want to start swimming again.

“Yeah, I mean…” Peter paused, thinking about how best to phrase it. “I haven’t been in so long, not since Ben... not since Ben passed. I didn’t really have the motivation to go anymore but like, now that I did, I realised how much I missed it. I dunno, it was just nice.” He shrugged.

”That’s good.” Tony nodded as he listened. ”Will you go every Saturday like you used to? Or how will you do it?” The doctor asked.

Peter grimaced at that. “I-I dunno. I don’t think I’ll be able to just… throw myself back into it, you know? It’ll probably take a while before I actually manage to go there every week, if it ever even gets to that point.”

Tony nodded at that. ”What do you think it will take for you to go every week?” The doctor asked, wanting Peter to explain his insecurities and fears.

Peter chewed down on his bottom lip as he thought about it. “I… I’m not sure. Maybe if I had someone to go with, or something… but everyone’s always busy, so…” He didn’t think it would be possible to go swimming every week anyway, not while he was like this.

”You don’t want to go alone, is that correct?” Tony asked.

Peter nodded. “If I go by myself, I feel like… I’ll be left alone with my thoughts or something. Having someone else there with me is a nice distraction.”

”Where does your mind wonder when you are left alone?” Tony asked.

Peter shrugged. “I dunno. All over the place, but usually it comes back to my family ‘n… ‘n what’s happened to them. Then I get emotional and it’s just… a pain in the ass to deal with.” He said, nervously laughing at himself.

”Your family and what’s happened to them.” Tony repeated, his voice just the right mix of neutral sympathy, even though his heart ached in his chest.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I- Yeah. That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He said. To be honest, he appreciated Stark a lot, but he _hated_  when he did this, just repeating what the boy said.

”Yes, you did.” Tony confirmed with a nod. ”Tell me more about it.” He prompted next, making a hand gesture towards Peter to encourage him to continue talking.

Peter’s confused expression then turned to one of annoyance. “Tell you m- You _know_  what happened! I told you what happened! Why are you making me say it again?” He said, gesticulating wildly as he spoke. He then covered his face with his hands to rub at his eyes tiredly. “This is so fucking stupid.”

”Peter, language.” Tony reminded before continuing. ”I am asking you because this is therapy. I know it’s not pleasant, but talking about the hard things will make you better. I’m not asking to make you upset or to tease you, I’m doing it to help you.” The doctor explained gently, hoping to avoid a whole tantrum.

At the reminder about his language, Peter dropped his hands and glared at the doctor. “But you already _know_ about what happened, I’ve told you countless times! I- I don’t see the point of f-fucking… repeating myself until my tongue falls out of my fucking head!”

”Peter.” Tony said more sternly now and raised a hand to get Peter to calm down. ”I don’t appreciate your use of profanities. We can talk about this in a civil manner, yeah?” He suggested. Perhaps they should have left the pool earlier, because now Tony feared that Peter was overtired and maybe even on the verge of a panic attack due to going back into the public so suddenly.

The boy didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he simply rolled his eyes and huffed, in the same way that a moody teenager would. He knew that Stark would see it, but he didn’t care. He slumped down in his seat a little, and said nothing else.

Tony gave Peter a moment before asking. ”What are you thinking about?”

Peter shrugged. “Nothin’.” He lied, his gaze all over the place but avoiding Stark’s face entirely. His bottom lip was jutted out into a natural pout, and his hand returned to his face to rub at his eyes. “I just hate having to fuckin’… repeat myself all the time.”

”Peter.” Tony said a little firmly, but the boy still would not meet his eyes. The doctor thought for a few seconds before speaking. ”I suspect that you are using profanities on purpose to rile me up to get spanked. Is that correct?”

“What?” Peter’s face only got more annoyed as he looked at the doctor. “No! Christ… Is that what you _want_  me to do? Bet you’re just _looking_  for an excuse to get your hands on my ass.” He spat, his face stormy.

Tony blinked at Peter’s comment, feeling his stomach drop as he feared he had misinterpreted the situation completely and put his own desires before what was best for Peter. Tony felt very conflicted where he sat and debated on what to say. He decided to deflect the attention from himself. ”I’m asking you, Peter. What is it that you want?”

Peter stayed silent for a while, the only noises that could be heard were his own heavy breathing as he got more and more wound up. Finally, he looked the doctor in the face. “I-I…” His face was still dark, but he soon felt embarrassment creeping up on him. “I want it. I w-wanted to get you mad.”

”I see. Why did you want to get me mad?” Tony asked, pleased that Peter had finally admitted why he had been acting so oddly.

 “I-It... it didn’t _start_  like that, I... I was annoyed cos I don’t like repeating myself all the time, but then... then you started getting really s-stern and, uhm, you’re r-really hot when you’re like that.” He admitted, squirming in his seat awkwardly.

Tony tried his hardest not to smirk at the compliment and ignored the spark he felt in his gut. ”I see. I’m sorry that I upset you by repeating what you said. I will keep in mind not to do that in the future.” The doctor said, genuinely feeling bad for upsetting his patient. Repeating is a well known therapy technique, but one that not all patients appreciate.

 “Right... thanks.” Peter nodded, his hands fumbling in his lap as he tried to find a comfortable sitting position. He opened his mouth to say something, to ask whether Stark was going to spank him, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to seem _desperate_  for it... did he? The thought of begging to be spanked made him a little woozy, but he pushed that out of his mind.

Tony could clearly see that Peter was still flustered and in need of a release, but the boy would have to ask for it if he wanted it. ”Tell me what you want, Peter.” The doctor prompted, his voice a little softer now.

Peter burned up at the soft timbre of the doctor’s voice, and he looked hurriedly to the floor. “I-I want...” he could feel his throat closing up, but he cleared it before continuing. “I-I wanna be sp-spanked.” He said, his body trembling with nerves.

Out of Peter’s sight, Tony let his smirk show and nodded. ”Okay, what’s your safeword, Peter?” The doctor asked.

 “Underoos.” Peter said clearly. He was equally as nervous as he was excited, even though he had done this before.

”Good. Remember to use it whenever you want to stop and I will stop, understood?” Tony said, rising from his chair to remove his lab coat and then rolled up his sleeves.

 “Y-Yeah.” Peter nodded, his mouth getting dry as he watched the doctor roll his sleeves up. That was a sight he would _never_  get tired of. He was pulled out of his daydream when he realised that Stark was looking at him expectantly, and he hurried to stand up and approach him. He still refused to bend over his lap himself, though. That was just plain humiliating.

Once he had rolled up his sleeves neatly, Tony moved to sit on the sofa and patted his knee. ”How many should we do?”

Even despite his clear embarrassment, Peter let out a shaky breath and leaned forward to situate himself over Stark's lap. The position was vulnerable and he squirmed across the man's lap as he tried to relax. "I... I don't know. I-I want more than last time." He admitted quietly, hoping that Stark wouldn't find him weird for it.

”How about 15?” Tony suggested, helping Peter find a more or less comfortable position across his thighs.

“Y-Yeah, that sounds fine.” _More than fine. Good, even._ Peter didn’t dare say that though, instead he simply laid across the man’s lap and waited for the first hit.

”Count them for me, Peter.” Tony instructed and paused a bit before giving the first blow. Like last time, he started easy by letting Peter keep his sweatpants and underwear on, but eventually he would pull each of them down.

Peter let out a yelp when the first slap came down to his clothed ass. He remembered what Loki had mentioned about how he had dared to ask to go straight to bare, and while he kind of wanted that too, he didn’t want to freak the doctor out. “One.” He said, his voice as steady as he could make it.

Tony gave Peter a moment to collect himself before giving the second and third blow, then he pulls down the boy’s sweatpants. ”Remember your safeword.” The doctor reminded, giving the fourth blow and enjoying the way Peter squirmed in response.

Peter squeaked with each new hit to his ass, but was able to count them out loud like Stark requested. When he reminded Peter of his safeword, the boy couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. “I know, I know…” he said haughtily, but was quickly cut off by his own yelp when the fourth blow hit his ass. “Four!”

”You’re doing good, Peter.” Tony pointed out, letting Peter get used to the sting before giving the fifth blow on the other ass cheek. He kept his hand there, rubbing in the sting to get the boy properly warmed up.

Peter cried out when he was hit for the fifth time, and stuttered out a “Five!” before he was trembling across the man’s lap. He whined when Stark kept his hand on the stinging flesh of his ass, but dared to look over his shoulder at the doctor. “A-Any excuse, St-Stark?” He said, unable to keep the cheeky grin off his face.

Tony gave the boy a wolfish smirk and squeezed his ass cheek hard in his grasp. ”Watch your tone, or you’re getting 20.” The doctor said before adding. ”And everything I do has a reason behind it and the reason for this is to get you warm and ready for what’s about to happen next.” He said and raised his hand to give the sixth blow.

Peter’s grin was wiped off his face when he let out a whine at the feeling of his ass getting groped. It hurt so good, and Peter couldn’t get enough of it. When Stark hit him for the sixth time, it took him a couple of seconds to count it. “Sure, a ‘reason’… whatever you say, p-pervert.” He teased, glancing back to see Stark’s reaction.

”Oh, you’re asking for it now...” Tony growled and during the seventh blow, he used more force than before and had to use his leg to stop Peter from tipping over on the floor. ”How many is that?” The doctor asked teasingly, placing his hand on the spot where he had just hit and rubbed it firmly.

Peter squealed at the seventh hit when his entire body jolted forward at the force of which Stark’s hand came down on his ass. “S-S-Seven!” He hissed out, his breath catching as he felt the doctor’s hand rubbing the sting into the flesh of his ass. “’s… ‘s not my fuh-fault you like being called a puh-pervert!” He said. It was like he never knew when to shut up, especially when he knew that it riled the doctor up.

Tony felt his pants getting tighter at that and growled again. ”You are one arrogant boy for being so snarky with your pants around your knees.” The doctor said lowly, pulling down Peter’s underwear to the middle of his thighs. The boy’s ass was pink now, but by the time they get to 15, it would be bright red. ”I don’t want to hear anything else from you besides counting, understood?” Tony said and finally spanked the boy on his bare ass.

Stark was finally showing his dominant side, the one that made Peter weak at the knees, and he could do very little other than nod obediently, and cry out when his boxers were yanked down to mid-thigh. He loved when Stark got like this, and wanted to antagonise him further to see how far the doctor would go, but suddenly there was a smack to his bare ass and he cried out. “Eight!”

”Good boy.” Tony smirked and let Peter recover for a minute before raising his hand again and delivering the ninth and tenth blow right after one another.

Peter felt a sudden flutter in his stomach when Stark called him a good boy, and he squirmed on the man’s lap again. The ninth and tenth blow made him howl in pain, but he counted them through gritted teeth. His eyes screwed shut as he tried to breathe as steadily as possible.

”Five more to go.” Tony reminded, giving Peter a moment to recover again. He also paused to enjoy Peter bent over his knee for as long as possible. Raising his hand again, Tony delivered the eleventh blow to the top of Peter’s thighs.

Peter let out a shuddered breath, and his heart was pounding in his ribcage like a hummingbird’s wings. The eleventh blow to his thighs made him cry out once more. “F-Fuck!” He hissed, feeling the sting of the hit spread across his legs. “E-Eleven.”

The sound of Peter’s cries and whimpers was like music to Tony’s ears and he found that it gave him a deep sense of satisfaction. However, he did not dwell on it much and focused on giving Peter the twelfth blow.

Peter choked when Stark hit him again,  and before he knew it, tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. “T-Twuh…” He tried to do it, tried to say the number, but all he could do was focus on not bawling at the pain and endorphins rushing through his system.

Tony could have pushed Peter into counting properly, but he let it pass and raised his hand again for another blow. ”Two more to go.” The doctor reminded in a murmur.

Peter nodded shakily when he heard that there were two more left, his fists clenching and unclenching to prepare himself. The thirteenth blow jolted him across the man’s lap, and he squealed in pain. “Thuh-Thirteen!” He swallowed thickly and continued to gasp for air.

Tony debated how to give the last two blows while Peter recovered. He could give them swiftly after one another, or give one and then wait with the last one to make Peter panic a little. The doctor chose the latter with a smirk and raised his hand to give one blow and let his hand linger on the spot, rubbing in the sting.

Peter howled with pain when Stark gave the second-last blow, and could only whimper as he felt the man’s hand knead the pain into his flesh. However, when the final hit didn’t come, he got antsy. “Wh- Aren’t y-you gonna do the last one? Wh-What’s taking so long?” He asked, clearly nervous as he squirmed and wriggled on the man’s lap.

”I thought I said I didn’t want to hear anything besides counting from you, boy.” Tony said, placing a hand on the back of Peter’s neck to keep his head down. He kept rubbing the boy’s sore ass cheeks until he felt the boy relax a little bit before delivering the last blow, using more force than before.

“Oh, _fuck_ …!” Being referred to in such a dismissive way made Peter’s skin burn up and he only continued to squirm more and more before the final hit was administered to his ass. It made his back arch and a broken cry resonate around the room, and he slumped down against the man’s lap as he panted for air.

”What was that?” Tony said sternly, moving his hand from Peter’s neck to grasp his chin and lift his head up. ”Do you want to repeat that?” The doctor asked.

Peter knew he was walking right into the lion’s den by resisting the temptation to concede and obey the doctor, but it was just too much fun to fight him. “Y-You heard me, _pervert._ ” He spat, trying to keep a straight face but a mischievous grin pulling at his lips.

Tony’s eyes narrowed as he felt a possessiveness being lit in his gut and he wanted to make the boy _beg_. But, he pushed those aside as much as he could and clinged onto his professionalism. ”I see that you still haven’t found your release. Would you like to take this a step further?” The doctor asked, hating to break up their little game with formalities, policies and guidelines.

“A step further…?” Peter had no idea what that meant, and he refused to let his nerves show on his face. “Sure, tr-try me.” He said, jutting his chin out arrogantly and letting his cheeky smile spread across his face.

”A step further would be that I use my belt to spank you.” Tony explained, cherishing the way Peter’s eyes widened. ”Do you want to try that?”

Peter was speechless at that. A _belt_? Did Loki ever get spanked with a belt? About fifty million thoughts were running through his head at that point, but one overrode all of them: “Yes… p-please, Stark.” He was saying it before his brain could catch up, and his eyes glanced down to the man’s waistline, where the buckle of his belt seemed to glint ominously.

”Are you sure you want this, Peter?” Tony asked, not just because policy said that they had to have explicit consent and time to think, but because he genuinely did not want to hurt the boy. ”What’s your safeword?”

Peter nodded. “I do.” His nerves were quickly covered up with another mischievous look. “And it’s underoos, you know that. A-Are you gonna sit there and do nothin’, or are you g-gonna sp-spank me, pervert?” He said, his voice wavering but his face set.

With a growl, Tony grabbed the collar of Peter’s hoodie and tugged him as he stood up. ”I hear how your voice is shaking.” The doctor murmured in the boy’s ear. ”It’s a sign that you’re about to cry and accept who’s in charge here.”

The boy cried out when he was suddenly hauled up into a standing position and lifted off the ground, and his toes scraped the floor as he stared up at Stark’s dark face. He knew that the doctor was right, and that he was about to cry, but… this was too much fun to give up. “You wish. _Doctor_.” He bit, his upper lip curling into a grin.

With a dark chuckle, Tony dragged the boy over to his desk and let go of him. ”Bend over, hands flat on the desk.” The doctor said, unbucking his belt and pulling it out of the loops to hold in his hands. ”And remember your safeword. Use it and I will stop immediately."

Peter stumbled a little when Stark let go of him in front of the man’s desk, adjusting the collar of his hoodie. He blanked out as he watched the doctor unloop his belt from his pants, and _shit_  that shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was. He turned slowly and bent over, bracing himself on the desk.

”You ready, Peter?” Tony asked, using his hand to arch Peter’s back further. He had folded up his belt in his other hand and it was ready for use.

Peter let out a soft “oof!” as his chest was pressed against the cool wood of the desk. “Y-Yeah, I’m ready. You gonna keep talkin’ or are you gonna do something?” He said, refusing to give up the attitude even when in a vulnerable position like this.

Tony did not reply, but moved his arm back to swing the belt to cut across Peter’s bare ass cheeks. The leather made a cracking noise and the boy jumped as the pain hit him in an instant.

Peter wasn’t expecting that much pain that quickly. He arched his back and let out a loud cry of pain, his hands scrambling for purchase against the desk. He let his forehead rest against the surface of the desk, and waited for the next hit.

Thank God his office was more or less sound proof. ”Count them for me, Peter.” Tony reminded, rearranging the belt in his grip.

Peter took a couple of seconds to respond, gasping for air that had been stolen from him when the belt came down on his ass. “O-One!” He cried, already close to tears.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony praised, running his fingers through Peter’s curls to help the boy recover from the blow. Taking a step back, the doctor raised his arm again to give Peter his second blow.

Peter couldn’t even form words, he could only whimper pitifully as the doctor ran his hand through the boy’s hair. When he felt the doctor move away from him, he instantly tensed up, and the second blow sent fresh pain shooting across his ass like lightning. He screamed in pain, arching his back once more as his arms trembled with the effort of holding himself up.

The sound of Peter’s screams and whimpers made Tony more aroused that he would have liked to. His pants felt tight and his groin throbbed hotly. He tried to push those thoughts aside for now and lifted his arms to give the third blow.

At the third hit, Peter’s arms gave out. He hit the desk with a groan, and his forearms were folded underneath him. He couldn’t even count the hits any more, the pain making him dazed and out of breath. He didn’t say his safeword though, he knew he could take it.

”How many, Peter?” Tony asked lowly, leaning over Peter and using his free hand to rub at the boy’s ass.

 “I... It’s...” Peter took a second, gasping for air. This shouldn’t be arousing, but the way that Stark was leaning over him, putting pressure on his bruised ass and murmuring in his ear made Peter keen, and his hips suddenly jolt across the desk. “T-Two? N-No, three!” He said.

”Three, that’s right, so two more to go.” Tony said and continued to rub at Peter’s hurting flesh, as he couldn’t get anywhere either way. ”Can you handle two more? Use your safeword if you need to.” The doctor assured.

Again, it took a second for Peter to reply, but he nodded resolutely. “Y-Yeah, I can.” He tried his best to lever himself up onto his arms so that his chest was off the desk, and he arched his back a little more. His hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat from the exertion of holding himself up, but he didn’t care.

”Brave boy.” Tony praised and then took a step back to raise his arm again. The leather cut through the air like a knife and made a soft whistling sound before it hit Peter’s ass with a crack. The boy’s ass was painfully red and with multiple lines from the belt.

Peter tried to take strength from the praise, but the whistling of the belt down towards his ass distracted him, and when the leather hit him he screamed again. Finally, he broke, and tears began streaming down his face and clinging to his eyelashes. He wasn’t quite sobbing, but his entire body was trembling with effort.

Tony let Peter have a pass on the counting and instead gave him the last blow. Setting his belt on the desk, Tony leaned over Peter again, not making him move just yet. ”Peter, it’s over now. You did so good.”

The final blow to his ass made Peter scream in pain, and he collapsed down onto the desk when he knew that it was the last one. His body shook with sobs, and he flinched when he heard the belt being put down on the desk. He couldn’t form words, only finding himself babbling incoherently as he felt Stark’s weight press against him. He hated how hard his dick was, but he ignored that as he tried to calm down from the endorphins that were currently running rampant through him.

”Cry it out, Peter, don’t hold back.” Tony instructed, placing one hand on Peter’s lower back to keep him steady for a little bit, then crouched down behind the boy to inspect his ass cheeks. It would be painful for a few days, but the skin hadn’t been broken, which Tony had not intended to either. The doctor tried to ignore how hard Peter was and stood up again, clearing his throat before speaking. ”You did really well, Peter. It will feel better in a bit.” He promised and went to fetch the cooling cream to relieve the boy from his pains right away.

Peter brought his hands up and laced his fingers behind his head, like he was bracing himself against the desk. Really, it was just to shield his face from the doctor so that he could cry freely, his shoulders shaking and hiccups escaping him as he sobbed. Pain almost seemed to pulsate from the area where he had been hit, and each new flash of pain made Peter wince and cry harder.

Peter seemed to having a good cry, based on what Tony could tell and as much as it broke his heart, he was pleased that he had been able to help Peter get his outlet. Taking some of the cream onto his hand, the doctor begins to apply it to the angry and hot skin of Peter’s ass as gently as he can.

Peter flinched _hard_  when Stark touched him, and the cool cream against his ass made him wriggle on the desk. “N-No, no, h-hurts!” He gasped, his fingertips digging into the edge of the desk as he tried to squirm away from the sensation. However, soon it began to calm the pain and he simply laid there and let the doctor apply the cream properly. There was also the issue of his dick... but he knew that that would be a step too far, even in this “unconventional” relationship.

”Shh, it’s all right, it’s all right. This will help.” Tony assured when Peter cried out and smiled at little when the boy slumped down once he felt the cream taking its effect. Once he was satisfied, the doctor straightened up and went to put the cream aside as well as wipe his hand clean. He tried not to smirk at the sight of Peter bent over his desk and let his mind wander to some inappropriate places.

Peter whimpered as the cream began to soothe his ass, and his heartbeat soon began to return to normal. He didn’t move from the desk for a little while, too exhausted to even lift his head off of the cool wood. After a little while, he regained some strength to stand himself up on shaky legs and tried to lean down to grab the hem of his sweatpants to pull them up. He avoided Stark’s gaze as he did so, and prayed that the man hadn’t noticed his arousal over the last few minutes.

”Come lay down for a while.” Tony instructed, offering his hand to Peter to guide him over to the sofa. The doctor sat down first and then patted his knee, giving Peter either option of sitting on his lap or laying his head in his lap.

Peter took the man’s hand and slowly made his way to the couch. He paused, before choosing to lie down on the couch on his side, with his head in Stark’s lap. As much as he wanted to sit directly on the man’s legs, his ass was killing him right now and he just needed a minute to let his body relax.

Tony lifted his arms to let Peter settle his head onto his lap before placing one hand on his shoulder and the other in his curls. ”Tell me what you’re thinking about.” Tony prompted, not liking that Peter had become so quiet.

Peter had his eyes shut for a brief moment, but opened them when Stark addressed him. “Huh? I, uh... I’m not really t-thinking about anything. I-I’ll be honest, I think you sp-spanked all of the working brain cells out of me.” He joked, wincing a little bit when he shifted on the couch and caused another jolt of pain to rocket up his spine.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s joke and ruffled his hair before he stroked it gently. ”Did you get what you needed?”

Peter smiled in response, then nodded. “Y-Yeah... I did. Thank you.” He said sincerely, reaching to take hold of the man’s hand. He brought it down to his face so he could begin kissing Stark’s palm ever so gently, and then leaned into it with his cheek. “I-It was fun. Like, t-talking back to you was.” He admitted, trying to hide the smile that was on his face.

Tony smiled at how Peter took his hand and kissed it. ”You’re very welcome.” The doctor said softly. ”To me it sounds like you aren’t scared to make me unhappy. Is that correct?”

Peter frowned as he thought about it. "I... Well, not _unhappy_ , but... it's fun teasing you 'n stuff to see how you react. I would never want to actually want to make you upset, but... it was fun to piss you off." He said, shrugging nonchalantly.

”I see.” Tony chuckled, scratching at Peter’s scalp. ”So, how did the teasing work out for you in the end?” The doctor asked, placing a hand on the boy’s ass.

Peter was relieved to hear the man laugh. It meant that he wasn't actually mad at him, and that the boy hadn't gone too far. However, when he felt Stark's hand on his ass, he squeaked as new feelings of pain rushed up his spine. "I- It- Sh-Shut up...!" He whined. It worked perfectly, he thought to himself.

Tony chuckled with a victorious smile before letting Peter’s ass be and continued to scratch at his scalp. The doctor glanced up at the clock and found that their time was running out soon. And they hadn’t even talked much about the swimming and how it would be for Peter to leave the facility in a few days.

Peter sighed when Stark left his ass alone, grabbing the waistband of his sweatpants and adjusting them a little. He let his eyes flutter closed again, unaware and uncaring of the little time that they had left of the session. He could fall asleep right here with Stark’s fingers running up and down his head, and his fingertips scratching at his scalp.

Tony sighed quietly as he looked at Peter resting so peacefully on his lap. He dreaded the thought of Peter leaving him, but he tried his hardest to remind himself that it was a good thing because it meant Peter was well enough to leave the facility and return to his life. However, the doctor did not get to dwell on it much as there was a knock on his door and Thor entered with an easy going smile.

Peter was almost on the edge of drifting off to sleep, but the knock to the office door made his head shoot up from Stark’s lap. He gazed over in that direction, seeing the nurse enter, and sighed. “Oh, hey Odinson.” He said, shuffling a little further away from the doctor to not look so suspicious.

Tony remained unbothered as he moved to stand up from the sofa, but hoped that the nurse didn’t get the wrong idea from the belt that was on his desk. He hoped that Thor remembered that some patients had deals with their doctors about spankings, which could involve canes or belts. ”Hey, sleepyhead.” Thor said back, the easy going smile still on his face as he waited for Peter to gather himself.

 “Sleepyhead? ‘m not... ‘m not sl-“ Peter promptly cut himself off with a yawn that he stifled with the back of his hand. It wasn’t his fault that he was so exhausted, not when Stark had spanked him within an inch of his life! When he looked over to see Thor with an eyebrow raised, he slumped his shoulders. “Okay, maybe you have a point...” he grumbled, standing up properly and stretching his limbs out.

Thor chuckled before addressing Tony. ”You aren’t being too tough on him I hope?” The nurse joked and Tony hummed.

”I don’t know. Am I being too tough on you, Peter?” The doctor asked his patient.

Peter glanced between the nurse and the doctor. He could see a dark glint in Stark’s eyes which made him gulp, and he only hoped that Thor couldn’t see it. Better still, he hoped he was only imagining it. “N-No, not... not at all, Doctor Stark.” He said. He never used the man’s full title, not unless he was being bratty on purpose, which... could you blame him? He turned back to Thor, who was watching him, and smiled nervously.

”That’s good to hear.” Thor smiled widely and patted Peter’s shoulder, then guiding him out of the office.

”I’ll see you tomorrow, Peter.” Tony said, eyeing Peter’s ass just a bit while he walked away.

Peter couldn’t help wincing a little when he walked, the feeling of fabric rubbing against his ass making him feel a little woozy. He barely heard Stark’s goodbye, but was able to wave in his direction before the office door shut behind him and he was led back to his room.


	39. 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there won't be an update tomorrow - gives us a chance to chill. also, 09/04 is an important day for me and my family, and i tend to stay offline. i'll be back on the 10th tho - richie x

Loki was having one of his good moods, so he took full advantage of it and skipped around the hallways and different patient areas to find his friend. He was in such a good mood that he even spoke to one of the nurses willingly and asked them where Peter was. ”South wing in his room, I bet. He just finished his session.” Bucky informed the boy and watched him walk away with a smile. Loki knocked on Peter’s half open door dramatically. ”Peeteer!”

Once Peter had gotten back to his room, Thor had more or less left him to it. The boy gazed around the room, pursing his lips as he wondered how he was going to pass the time before dinner. Eventually, he settled for lying on his stomach in bed, reading one of his Tintin comics. He would’ve laid on his back, but... He sighed, his chin in the palm of his hand as he read about Tintin and Snowy’s escape from another crypt, but the knock to his door made him look up. He was initially confused, but quickly smiled genuinely when he saw who was at the door. “Greaseball! What brings you to this neck of the woods?” He asked, closing the comic but making no effort to move from where he laid on his stomach.

”I don’t know. Thought I’d check out which comics I could borrow from you before you leave on Friday.” Loki shrugged like it was nothing, but his heart ached at saying that outloud. However, he pushed those thoughts away and focused on getting as much out of his good mood while it lasted.

Oh yeah, he was leaving on Friday. That made something twist in the depths of his stomach, and made him feel slightly sick, but for the time being he ignored that. “Yeah, man, go ahead. Oh! I, uh, I still have your Stephen King book. It’s over there.” He said, pointing to his desk where the book laid with a bookmark slotted inside it. “And you can take as many comics as you want... and depending on what they are, you can keep them. I’ve got some new ones I haven’t read yet, but the rest are all cool for you to take.” He smiled, still not moving from the bed.

”Wait-what?” Loki stuttered, looking at Peter to confirm that he had heard correctly. ”I can’t take them, they’re yours!” The boy said, slumping down in the desk chair while facing Peter on the bed.

 “I don’t mind!” Peter said, shrugging casually. “It’s not a huge deal. Think of it as like... my leaving gift.” He said. “Besides, I’ve read like 85% of them a hundred times, so... they’re all yours, buddy.” He shuffled a little on the bed, turning so he could see the boy better.

Loki frowned a little bit at Peter’s odd position on his stomach, but did not comment on it. He was far too busy being overwhelmed with such a nice gift. ”T-thanks.” The boy stuttered out, blushing a light pink as he took the ‘IT’ book into his hands and flipped through it. ”So, what did you think of the swimming?” Loki asked, changing the topic.

Peter grinned widely at the boy. He was happy that Loki had accepted his gift, and he watched the boy as he looked through the Stephen King book. “Swimming? Oh, it was so much fun. I forgot how much I missed it.” He sighed contentedly, thinking about how it had felt to be back in the water. His mind started to fill with images of Stark shirtless, and he shook his head to clear it. Not right now. “What about you?”

Loki blushed harder and burried his nose in the book. ”It was all right...” He mumbled, thinking about how much fun he honestly had had with Thor.

 “‘All right’? No way, dude, I saw you with Thor. It was way better than ‘all right’.” Peter teased, giggling at how a blush seemed to creep up the raven-haired boy’s cheeks even despite his best efforts to hide it. “You had looooads of fun. It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.” He grinned, gazing at Loki with another mischievous glint in his eye.

”Shut up!” Loki laughed moving on the chair to het closer to Peter and smack him on his ass with the book. Loki didn’t hit hard, but he thought he did when he heard how loudly Peter cried out in real pain. ”Shit, dude!”

Peter tried to shuffle away from the boy when he was approached, but he was too slow. The book coming down on his ass made him howl in pain, and his fists gripped his bedsheets tightly. He buried his face in the sheets as he gasped for air, and his ass began to hurt all over again. “I-It’s fine! I... It was St-Stark, he...” Peter didn’t dare say it, but they both knew what he was talking about.

Loki’s eyes widened comedically and his jaw dropped to the floor. Perhaps he had underestimated Peter and what he was capable of. ”Did you get fucking caned or what?!” The boy asked in disbelief.

Peter took a couple of shaky breaths before lifting his head up off the sheets and looking at the boy. "Not caning... he... I p-pissed him off, so he used his b-belt..." He said, trying to regain a steady heartbeat. The smile was now gone from his face and was replaced with a look of nervous anticipation, waiting for Loki's reaction.

Slowly, Loki raised his hands to applaud Peter. ”I- I don’t know what to say honestly!” Loki laughed, still clapping his hands together. ”Shit, you outperformed yourself! I never actually thought you could get spanked, let alone hit with a belt! How many did you get?”

Peter rolled his eyes and shoved at the boy's shoulder weakly. "So, yeah. I'd... I'd show you the marks but, uhm, that'd be weird." He squirmed on the bed, now painfully aware of how his ass was still throbbing with pain. "I, uh, got f-fifteen. And then I just... kept t-teasing him, and then he g-gave me five with the belt to my b-bare ass." He whimpered, remembering how Stark had manhandled him and made him bend over his desk.

”Yikes!” Loki said with a shudder. He had never got the belt nor cane himself, but he had heard of other patients getting it and knew about the sheer amount of pain they caused. He prefered bare hands, because it felt more personal that way, but he didn’t tell Peter that. ”I guess you have all my respect- wait, no. Nearly all of it.” He decided with a laugh.

Peter nodded with a grimace when Loki said "Yikes", but frowned at the sentence after. "What do you mean, _nearly_  all of it? I just got s-spanked by a _belt_ , what more do you want me to do!" He said, laughing in disbelief.

”Get caned?” Loki asked, but then burst out into laughter and shook his head to show that he wasn’t serious.

Peter's eyes widened, but once he realised that the boy was joking he scoffed and shoved at his shoulder again. "You're a dick." He said lightly, before daring to roll onto his back and sit up properly. He winced and hissed as pressure was applied to his bruised ass, but he didn't make eye contact with Loki until he had finished wincing. To be honest, he was surprised that the boy hadn't teased him much about it yet.

Loki tried to hold back laughter at watching Peter wince, but after a bit he just felt sorry for him and then he felt bad for laughing at Peter in the first place. ”You okay?” He asked quietly, watching Peter move carefully on the bed.

Once Peter had sat up properly, gripping onto the bedsheets tightly to distract himself from the pain coming from his ass, he looked over at Loki who was watching him carefully. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He snorted, running a hand through his messy hair. "I'll be fine, dude. I practically asked for it, and he only did five. Stop lookin' so worried." He said, leaning forward to squish the boy's face.

”Hey!” Loki yelped, patting Peter’s hand away with a smile before turning more serious. ”I- just... Banner says it’s nice to ask people if they are okay, so... I asked.” Loki said, growing a little flustered and looking down at the floor.

Peter smiled. "He's not wrong, you know." He said quietly, moving his hands away from the boy's face and resting them on his knees. "My ass hurts like a bitch, but I'll be alright." He laughed. "Thanks for asking." He tilted his head to one side and watched the boy, wondering why he seemed to blush so easily.

Loki nodded and glanced up at Peter briefly before dropping his gaze again. ”I don’t want you to leave...” He admitted quietly, his voice barely audiable with his hands in front of his face.

Peter's face softened when he heard Loki's admission, and his heart swelled about fifty times bigger in his chest. "Hey, it's okay..." He murmured, shuffling closer and closer to the boy while ignoring the pain that radiated from his ass with each movement he made. Soon, they were both sat crosslegged opposite one another, and Peter dared to take the other boy's hand. "If it makes you feel better, I kinda don't wanna leave either. I'll miss hanging out with you. Even the nurses are starting to grow on me." He joked, trying to get the boy to laugh.

Loki chuckled, although not for long and sort of sadly. He kept his gaze down, but did not pull his hand away that Peter was holding. ”Are you going back to your aunt then?” The boy asked, his voice a little shaky.

"Yup. And then I'll hopefully get to go back to school as well, and see Ned 'n MJ." He said, more to himself than Loki, but continued to gaze at the boy. He could see that Loki was upset by the concept of him leaving, and it made Peter a little upset as well. "But listen, the second I'm able to, I'm bustin' ya out of here." He joked again. "We're gonna pull a prison break, and you can come live with me 'n May. She liked hearing about you, you know." He said, hoping to bring some comfort to the boy.

Loki wanted to believe what Peter was saying, but nice things like that never happened to him, so he brushed it off and put the attention back on Peter. ”Haven’t you been gone from school for-... two months of something? You’ll have to do the year over again, you know.” The boy pointed out.

“What?” Peter looked confused at that. May had never said anything about him re-doing the year when he mentioned school. “N-No I don’t, May didn’t... May didn’t say anything about that. I can just catch up, can’t I?” He said, but a sinking feeling in his gut told him that that wasn’t the case. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked down at his lap, thinking it over.

Loki realised quickly that he probably should have kept his mouth shut, but he didn’t not know how to make things right. ”I mean- school’s shit anyway? Who needs all that bullshit anyway?” He asked with a scoff. ”I never finished high school and I’m doing great!” He joked.

This time, it was Peter’s turn to chuckle sadly. “Yeah, it’s all bullshit…” He hummed, but he couldn’t shake that upset feeling. Why didn’t May tell him about school? She had a ton of chances to… and if she was hiding that, what else was she hiding from him while he was in here? Peter subconsciously leaned over to grab Spidey from the end of the bed and cradled him close, an anchor while his thoughts were swimming inside his head.

”Sit there, do this, do that, can’t piss, can’t talk. I mean, they treat us like animals or something?” Loki rambled without aim, but continued talking to hide how flustered he was over upsetting Peter. ”School’s shit anyway.” He repeated for emphasis before falling silent.

Peter hummed in agreement, but didn’t say much else. He had to retake the year. He shouldn’t have been so stupid and thought that he could just waltz back into school and catch up with everyone... Peter suddenly realised that Loki was staring at him and he glanced up, smiling uneasily. “It’s all bullshit.”

Loki bowed his head, but kept glancing up at Peter now and then. He had clearly said the wrong thing and cursing at himself, he got up to do something about it in the only way he knew how to in that moment. He leaned forward and pulled Peter into a hug. He didn’t apologise or speak at all, but just held his friend tight.

Peter squeaked when he was suddenly pulled forward into a hug, but didn’t dare say anything. If he did, then it was likely that Loki would immediately let go of him and the moment would be over. Peter wanted to cherish this, Loki being comfortable to initiate something, for as long as possible. He slowly let his hand rest on the boy’s back and rubbed up and down soothingly. Loki was quite good at giving hugs, he decided.

Loki tensed a little when he felt Peter’s hand on his back, but quickly found it to be nice and relaxed. He held Peter for a while, trying to think of what to say. ”Sorry...” He mumbled after a bit of thinking, not knowing what else to say.

Peter smiled at that. “‘s okay. Your hugs are nice.” He said, tightening his arms around the boy. After a little while longer, he moved away from him to break the hug, and they sat looking at each other. He had to admit, he felt a bit better now, and the memory of Loki hugging him would be burnt into his brain for quite some time. He flopped forward so that his head was in the boy’s lap and he closed his eyes contentedly. “You’re alright, Lo.”

Loki chuckled fondly at how Peter flopped down on his lap and smiled down at him. ”You’re alright, Peter.” He said back.


	40. 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things get bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back again suckas

The next morning, Peter was still thinking about that hug with Loki. It made warmth blossom in his chest and he couldn’t stop smiling to himself, even when he was down in the canteen for breakfast. He headed to the session shortly after breakfast with Rogers, and they had a heated conversation about Star Wars before Peter was ushered into Stark’s office. He knocked politely on the door and headed in, seeing the man sat typing at his desk

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would leave his care and hopefully never have to come back. Usually, Tony was happy to see patients leave, but with this puppy eyed, bright little thing called Peter Parker, he felt uneasy. The doctor tried to push his own emotions away and put all his focus on Peter as he entered his office. ”Morning, Peter.” He greeted, rising from his desk and going over to the two chairs.

 “I’m tellin’ you, New Hope is the best one! You’re crazy, Rogers!” The boy called out behind him at the nurse who was walking in the opposite direction, chuckling to himself. When he realised that Stark had greeted him, he spun on his feet and offered the man a smile. “Hey, Doctor.” He said, also heading over to his usual chair. He hadn’t brought Spidey with him today, which he promptly regretted as he sat down and realised he had nothing to fiddle with. “How’re you?” He asked. He didn’t usually ask, usually Stark managed to get him talking about himself first.

Tony raised his brows at the question as he moved to sit in his chair. ”I’m good, thank you.” The doctor answered briefly and not entirely truthfully. ”More importantly, however, how are you doing?” Tony asked Peter.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows for a split second. He’d noticed that Stark never seemed to talk about himself, and only ever wanted to talk about Peter. It would make sense, considering these therapy sessions were about him and his recovery, but... since their relationship had _developed_ , shouldn’t Stark be a little more comfortable talking about himself? He realised that he was zoning out with this train of thought when he saw Stark gazing at him expectantly. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Good, even.” He nodded.

”Good, huh? Tell me more.” Tony prompted.

Peter shrugged. “‘m just good. Saw a goldfinch outside this morning, that was cool. And ‘m leaving tomorrow, so... gotta be lookin’ forward to that.” He said, though he didn’t sound as thrilled as he pretended to be. He was nervous, incredibly nervous about it, knowing who he’d leave behind here.

”Yes, you’re leaving tomorrow.” Tony confirmed, swallowing thickly to get the lump in his throat to go away. ”What do you think about that?”

Peter shrugged again. "I've mixed feelings about it. Like, on the one hand, it means I'm better 'n stuff, but... I'm leavin' people behind here, you know? Like Loki, and... and you." He said quietly, looking up through his eyelashes at the doctor.

”How do you think you’ve gotten better?” Tony asked, avoiding talking about their relationship.

Peter pursed his lips as he thought about it. "I... I dunno. I can't really explain it, I just... feel better. Sorry, that's not helpful at all..." Peter laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess 'm becoming more open with people? Like, I actually talk about stuff now instead of just... shutting down like I used to."

”That’s good. That’s really good.” Tony praised. ”Tell me more about that.” The doctor asked, hoping to get an example.

“Well, I mean… this,” He gestured to the two of them. “would’ve been a lot harder before. Like, uhm, when I told you about my parents? I don’t think I would’ve been able to do that before, I would’ve just completely…” Peter waved a hand in front of his face to signify him shutting down emotionally.

”I see.” Tony nodded. ”Do you remember what I said to you after you told me about your parents?”

Peter furrowed his eyebrows again, trying his best to remember. “I… don’t, sorry.” He grimaced, his eyes glancing off to the side and then back at his doctor.

”I said you were very brave for telling me about your parents.” Tony said with a little smile, hoping to get Peter to think about the things he had achieved in just a few weeks.

“Oh.” Peter remembered now, remembered how he had felt recounting the story and how Stark had said how brave he was for saying it. “It… It doesn’t _feel_  brave. Like, I’m just tellin’ you stuff that’s happened. I don’t really…” He shrugged, his gaze all over the place again.

”But, you did this?” Tony said, recreating Peter’s movements where he showed how closed off he was. ”So, if I understood you correctly, you didn’t want to talk about your parents because of fear, or something else, but then you told me about it anyway. That is brave of you, Peter.”

Peter didn’t say anything for a while, almost like he was defeated by the man’s point. He gazed into the middle distance, thinking it over in his head, and then grumbled something incoherent before shuffling to get more comfortable on the chair.

”Repeat that, Peter.” Tony prompted with a light chuckle, sitting up in his seat to be a little closer to his patient.

"I saaaaaaid... I hate it when you're riiiight..." The boy over-enunciated his words loudly, before slouching back in his seat. He wasn't annoyed, more amused, and he watched the doctor carefully through narrowed eyes.

Tony chuckled again, seeing that Peter was not upset for real. ”I tend to be right, yes.” He said with a smug little smile. ”However, in all seriousness. You have achieved a lot during these few weeks.”

Peter rolled his eyes fondly at the man, scoffing a little and looking away from him. When the doctor mentioned his achievements, however, he got a little uncomfortable and the smile on his face drooped ever so slightly. “Yeah, yeah...” he mumbled, refusing to look Stark in the eye again.

”Tell me what else you think you have gotten better at while staying here.” Tony prompted.

 “Uhm...” Peter didn’t know. He had no idea, he just had a gut instinct that he wasn’t as bad as he was when he first joined. “I can speak to the nurses without telling them to fuck off?” He said jokingly, but then his eyes widened as he realised he swore in front of the doctor. Hopefully he didn’t notice.

”Language, Peter.” Tony reminded, but with a smile on his face considering how Peter seemed to notice his mistake right away. ”What about your eating habits? And taking care of yourself in general?”

 “Sorry...” Peter mumbled. He was genuinely sorry, and he knew that he couldn’t take another spanking while he was still dealing with the bruises of yesterday. “Oh, yeah, that’s... that’s better too. I used to be too anxious to eat, like it would make me feel nauseous, but now I can eat three times a day ‘n stuff. Uhm... I try ‘n shower more frequently as well, which is good.”

”I see.” Tony nodded. ”Sounds like you have made a lot of progress. That is very good, Peter.” Tony said with a smile, although his heart ached in his chest. Goddamn, he was already grieving the loss of Peter, even though he hadn’t even left yet. ”What made you too anxious to eat before?”

Peter hummed. “Uh... mainly stuff at home. Like, uhm, having to do my chores ‘n stuff to help May out as much as I could. I didn’t really mind it but it always left a weird feeling in my chest, which I guess was anxiety?” He said, drumming his fingertips against his leg. “And then for a little while, being here made me nervous ‘n stuff...” he said, the memory of him cursing out the staff members and running from them being left unsaid.

”And then what?” Tony prompted, making some mental notes of Peter’s life at home. The doctor began debating whether he should arrange for May to join one of their sessions to help her support his nephew. However, time was running out and Tony doubted May could drop work to come to the facility on such short notice.

 “I dunno. I just got used to the routine, I guess. And seeing you helped, so... it made it better.” Peter said. Sometimes he still felt moments of anxiety, mainly concerning the morals of his relationship with Stark and what could happen if he was ever found out, but he didn’t want to share that with the doctor. That would start a conversation he _really_  didn’t want to have.

”Hold onto that, yeah?” Tony instructed. ”I cannot stress enough how important it is that you continue eating like you have here. As well as take your medication.” The doctor said. ”Have you noticed a difference physically?”

Peter thought about it. “I’ve definitely put on weight. But like, in a healthy way, not a... not an unhealthy way. I was super skinny before, now I... still am, just not as much.” He said, laughing a little. “That’s the main thing, I think. Also the food means I don’t get tired so frequently, cos ‘m actually eating stuff so it’s fuel, you know?”

”Yeah, it is fuel and we all need it.” Tony smiled. ”Do you think you can keep up that routine when you get back home? Or do you imagine that there will be something stopping you?”

 “Hopefully, yeah. I’ll try, but sometimes stuff gets in the way ‘n I can’t eat three meals a day. If I’m running late I skip breakfast, or... sometimes Flash knocks my food outta my hand, or... I’m too caught up in homework so I don’t have time to cook for myself. Stuff like that.” Peter said. “I’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.”

”I see.” Tony nodded, as if he hadn’t skipped a meal or two now and then because he was so caught up in his work. ”But, try your hardest to get three meals each day, yeah? And take your medication every day.”

Peter nodded at that. “Yeah, I will. Promise.” He hummed, before falling silent. He couldn’t believe that he was actually leaving this place. Sure, three weeks wasn’t the longest amount of time, but it passed incredibly quickly AND incredibly slowly at the same time.

”That’s good.” Tony said and paused a bit before bringing up another point. ”Peter, I would recommend that you start seeing someone else after you leave on Friday.” The doctor started, waiting to see Peter’s reaction to what he had said.

Peter's head immediately whipped up at that and he looked the man dead in the eye. At first, he was upset, thinking that Stark didn't want to be his doctor any more or that he didn't care about him. However, another thought came creeping up in his mind, one that suggested that he wanted to stop being his doctor so that they could take his relationship further. He paused, still looking at the man, then took a breath. "Why?"

”Because I think you need someone to talk and it would help you greatly. Do you agree or disagree with that?” Tony asked, trying his hardest to talk about this in a gentle manner.

Peter's eyebrows almost became a unibrow, the way they furrowed together. "Can I not see you? I already know you so well, wouldn't it just be easier to keep talking to you?" He said. He knew that it would be good to have someone to talk to, he couldn't deny that, but he couldn't see why he had to change doctors.

”I work here at the facility, Peter.” Tony said, sounding more apologetic than his guidelines instructed him to sound when ending a relationship with a patient. ”Like I’ve said before, you leaving this place, it’s a good thing, Peter. Not seeing me, it’s a good thing.” The doctor said with a light chuckle.

Peter wasn't comforted by that. If anything, he slumped further into his chair and jutted his bottom lip out. "It doesn't _feel_  like a good thing. You know it doesn't." He mumbled. Realistically, he knew that his relationship with Stark had to end, but it was still painful regardless.

Tony does know, but does not dare say that aloud. ”You’ll get to see your friends again. You’ve told me multiple times that you miss them. Isn’t that correct?” The doctor asked, deflecting the attention from himself again.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah..." Peter nodded. "Missed them a lot. I've not seen 'em for, like, two months, and I've only been able to speak to Ned briefly on the phone, so... I can't wait to see them again." He said, sitting up in his chair as he started to feel a little better about leaving.

”And one of your goals was to become well enough to see them, right? I think that if you see someone after you leave here, they can help you with that.” Tony said, hoping to put things into perspective for Peter.

Peter nodded slowly, his gaze now fixed on the floor as he thought about it. "That... That makes sense, I guess. Who would I have to see, though?" He asked, glancing up at the doctor and then back down to the floor.

”You can find someone yourself if you want, or I can refer you to someone. However, I would like if you went to see Stephen Strange, as we have similar training and techniques.” The doctor explained, watching Peter carefully to figure out what he thought of it all.

“ _Strange_?” Peter made a face of displeasure, and slumped back down in his seat to the point where his neck was tucked into his chest. “I don’t _l_ _ike_  Strange. I mean, he’s fine, but… I prefer _you_.” He grumbled, thinking about the last time he and Strange had met. It was in the corridor after his nightmare, and Peter had embarrassingly regressed.

”He is the best there is, Peter. I think you will realise that once you give Strange a chance.” Tony tried to argue, feeling himself panic just a bit at the thought of Peter not seeing anyone after leaving on Friday.

Peter narrowed his eyes at that. "Are you... Are you complimenting him? Is Tony Stark _complimenting_  Stephen Strange?" He asked in disbelief, then snorted. "I'm guessing the hate-sex was really good last night, huh?" He said, but then froze. Shit. He said that out loud, didn't he? He held his breath and refused to look the doctor in the eye, ready for him to flip his shit.

Tony raised his brows a fraction, half-offended and half-amused by Peter’s comment. ”Peter, I’m trying to help you. If you do not want my help, then say so and I will not refer you to anyone, if that is what you wish.” The doctor explained calmly, although he wanted to push the boy up against the wall and show him who was in charge.

Peter gulped. He had a feeling he went too far, and the doctor’s sudden professionalism was a way of telling him that without actually saying it. After a moment or two, he spoke. “No, I… I want your help. S-Sorry.” He mumbled, glancing up at the doctor to find him watching the boy with an odd look in his eye.

”So, shall I refer you to Strange, someone else or do you want to try and find someone yourself?” Tony asked, hoping to get the conversation back on track. ”You don’t have to make up your mind right now, but Friday is coming up very soon.”

"Uhm..." Peter _really_  didn't want to see anyone other than Stark, but he knew that if he didn't see someone, he was only going to get worse. "...You can refer me to Strange. But you promise I'm gonna be seeing you until I leave, right?"

Tony smiled genuinely when Peter said that he would see Strange. The doctor felt more or less comforted knowing that Peter would be taken care of, even if he wasn’t the one doing so. ”Yes, we have our sessions today and tomorrow.”

Peter nodded. "Cool, cool..." He fell silent, wondering what Strange would be like. They technically had had a session together, but Peter was so disinterested that he didn't give the man a chance. It made him cringe, and he looked back at Stark, who was still watching him. He wanted to get up and sit on his lap, or maybe lie on the couch with Stark hovering over him, but for now he stayed where he was, fidgeting on the seat.

Tony let Peter be for a while, giving him some time to think. Eventually, the doctor spoke up and asked. ”What are you thinking about?”

"I, uh..." Peter began to blush gently. He gulped, then spoke again. "I was thinkin' about kissing you." He mumbled, his blush becoming more pronounced and reaching the tips of his ears. He didn't look at the doctor any more, flattening himself against the chair and his gaze fixed to the floor.

Tony swallowed thickly before he spoke, picking his words carefully. ”Peter- you should stop doing that.” The doctor said before adding. ”Thinking about kissing- me... I mean, you are leaving on Friday and hopefully I will never have to see you again.” Asshole, so much for choosing words carefully, Tony thought to himself and felt how his shirt collar seemed to tighten around his neck.

Peter felt a dull weight settle in his chest, and his heart pounded in his ears. “R-Right. I... Okay. S-Sorry.” He mumbled. He knew it was too good to last, what he had with the doctor. It was probably easier to end what they had now than on the last day, but that didn’t mean that it hurt like a bitch. He shrunk into himself on the chair and shoved his hands into the pocket of his hoodie, feeling incredibly downtrodden.

Well fucking done, Stark, Tony thought to himself. He tried his hardest to stay in his seat, stay professional, and not leap up and take Peter into his arms. ”Oh God...” And with that, the doctor caved in to the temptation and stood up from his seat and leaned down to kiss Peter. He cupped the boy’s cheeks in his hands, guiding his head as he controlled the kiss.

Peter blinked a couple times as the doctor approached him, and squeaked when his head was lifted and his lips were pressed against Stark’s. He leaned up off his chair as best he could, desperately seeking the man’s lips. When they broke off for air, Peter couldn’t help but speak. “But you said-!” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before Stark was kissing him again, probably to shut him up. That made heat unfurl in his stomach and he gladly stopped talking.

Tony did not argue back, although he knew Peter was right and his actions did not make any sense. All he wanted to do was to hold Peter close and kiss him forever, hoping desperately that the boy would not slip from his hands.

After a few more minutes, Peter stood up and pushed Stark back so that he collapsed into his chair. He wasted no time in straddling the man’s lap, knees bracketing Stark’s thighs as he kissed the man once more. The move was something you’d see in a cheesy porno, but Peter wanted to be in his lap with his hands on him.

Tony let Peter push him back into his chair and grinned up at the boy. ”Is this what you’ve been thinking about?” The doctor asked huskily, taking up the boy’s mouth before he could answer.

Peter whimpered at Stark’s tone of voice and gladly leaned forward to let the man dominate his mouth. His hands came to grip at his shirt, and while he wasn’t particularly strong, he had a feeling that in his last fuelled haze, he could easily tear the fabric of his shirt. He nodded in response to the doctor’s question, leaning back to take a breath. “I... All the time... Even when I’m not with you. _E-Especially_  when I’m not with you.” He only prayed that Stark could read between the lines with that one.

Tony’s heart ached at what Peter was saying, feeling completely torn between his desires and his work ethics. ”Peter- we...” He said, pressing his forehead against Peter’s so that they were breathing the same air. ”We can’t keep doing this...” The doctor said quietly.

Peter’s shoulders rose and fell heavily as he gasped for breath, his eyes shut. When Stark spoke, he opened his eyes to gaze at the man with his famous puppy-dog expression. Part of him wanted to rip into the man for telling him this just after kissing him so passionately, but his heart ached too much for that. “I-I know. I’m... I’m s-sorry, I never should’ve s-said anything.”

”No, no, I shouldn’t have-” Tony started, struggling with making a coherent thought, let alone speak it aloud. All he wanted to do with his mouth was to kiss, not talk. ”We have to stop this, eventually, either way... Might as well be now, hm?”

Peter sighed, moving back away from the doctor. "I guess..." He mumbled, pain and upset as clear as day on his face. He suddenly felt very awkward about clambering onto the man's lap and squirmed to get off, not even offering one last kiss before he moved back to his own seat.

Tony felt his stomach drop when he felt Peter climb off of his lap. He had said what he had said, but now he regretted it deeply and cleared his throat awkwardly. ”So- what would you like to talk about?” The doctor asked. He had asked that question so many times during his career, but this time it sounded dumb.

Peter had initially curled up into a ball, his arms wrapped around his knees with his chin on his kneecaps, but when Stark asked him that question, he slumped. The man had been so quick to tell him that they couldn't do this any more that Peter couldn't tell whether Stark ever cared about him to begin with, and that was the thought that prompted him to stand up and walk out. That dull weight in his chest only gotten heavier and his eyes welled up with tears as he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

”Peter-” Tony started, but quickly realised he lacked any sort of authority in his voice and just sounded pathetic as Peter left. Rising from his seat swiftly with the energy from his frustration, the doctor went over to his pager and sent a message to one of the nurses to check on Peter.

Peter blinked angrily through his tears as he stormed through the facility, ignoring everybody who he walked past, including some of the nurses. He made his way to the south wing, and headed into his room before also slamming that door shut. He backed up against it and slid down to the floor, sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him and his head resting against the door as tears streamed down his face. He was stupid, painfully stupid for ever thinking he could get what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: *has two WIP fics, two WIP edits and also studying for exams next month*  
> also me: coraline au?? yes???  
> im a dumbass - richie


	41. 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and loki devise another plan.

Getting a message from Tony to go tend to Peter who had stormed out mid session, Steve left the nurses station and headed to the south wing. On his way, he met Bucky and got him to tag along, just in case. Some patients had a tendency to get upset when it was time for them to leave and Peter seemed to be one of those patients. ”Peter?” Steve asked, knocking on the boy’s door. ”It’s Steve and Bucky. Let us in, bud.”

Peter could hear footsteps outside, but the knock to the door nearly shocked him out of his skin. He rubbed his sleeve against his face to wipe his tears away, but they kept coming fast. "N-No! Leave me alone!" He shouted, but his voice was hoarse and wavering as he cried. There was no way in hell he was going to talk to the nurses right now.

”Peter, you sound upset. Let us in and we can talk, or just sit together.” Bucky suggested, knocking on the door as well.

"NO!" Peter shouted, louder this time, but could feel his body slumping with exhaustion. "What part of "leave me alone" do you not understand?!" He said unkindly. He would tell them to fuck off, but that seemed too far.

Steve and Bucky exchanged a look, silently debating what to do next. They could kick the door in easily, but that would be unnecessary use of force and scare Peter. They would have to continue persuading him into letting them in. ”Peter, tell us what has got you upset.” Steve prompted.

Down the hallway, Loki got curious when he heard shouting and the two nurses standing by the door. Walking over, Loki scoffed a little. ”Is puppy eyes having a tantrum?”

Peter growled and threw his fist behind him to punch the door. It connected and instantly pain flooded his hand, but it made a satisfying "thud" sound. "I said... Leave. Me. ALONE!" He said, his anger turning into upset tears that clung to his eyelashes and made his vision blurred. For a moment, he sat panting for breath, but then Loki's haughty voice from the other side of the door caught his attention. "Loki?" He called out, not realising how broken he sounded.

Loki was about to say something snarky about Bucky and Steve not kicking down the door yet, but frowned when he heard how upset Peter was based on his shaky voice. ”You okay?” He asked, coming up closer to the door, but Steve held him back.

”Head down to the canteen, we got this.” The nurse assured.

Peter could hear Steve telling Loki to leave, and that made him more upset. “No! I-I want him to stay.” He said, clearly enough for the people on the other side of the door to hear even despite his wavering voice. “I-I’ll let him in. But _only_  him.” He said, slowly moving to stand up with his back still pressed against the door.

Considering quickly, Steve and Bucky nod at each other. Loki shrugged his shoulders, showing he didn’t mind. ”All right, we’ll let Loki in, but on one condition.” Steve said and paused a bit before continuing. ”You will leave the door slightly ajar and we will stay right here. That’s the condition, Peter.” The nurse said.

Peter frowned, taking a moment to think it over. He wasn’t happy with that condition, not at all, but looking around the room he knew that he could get himself and Loki to stand as far away from the door as possible so that the nurses couldn’t hear. “F-Fine.” He mumbled, taking a step back and opening the door just enough for Loki to slide into the room.

Shooting the two nurses a smug look, Loki slipped into Peter’s room. However, that smugness did not last long as Loki literally had no idea what to say to Peter to comfort him. ”Uhm... Hi?” He started with a shrug.

Peter pulled the sleeve of his hoodie down and wiped at his face with it again to clear the evidence of tears off of his face. When Loki came in, he grabbed the boy by the wrist and dragged him to the other side of the room, well away from the door. “Stark’s a prick and I hate him.” He mumbled, his eyes glancing over to the door every so often to make sure the nurses weren’t looking in.

Loki scoffed again. ”Took you long enough to realise that. I’ve told you! The staff here are assholes!” Loki laughed, speaking towards the door where he knew the nurses were listening to them.

Peter snorted at that, rolling his eyes as he continued to pat at his cheeks. “Yeah, yeah… I should’a listened. Well, not all of them, just him.” He said, a little louder this time. He didn’t say Stark’s name, so that the nurses were left confused about who he was referring to. “I just… Fuck, dude. I’m so exhausted, with the whole…” Peter paused, not wanting to mention the crush on Stark with the nurses right by the door.

”Well, lucky you're leaving tomorrow.” Loki said, rolling his eyes a little. ”I’ll be stuck here forever.” He said more quietly now.

Peter leaned against the wall with his arms folded, and he watched the boy carefully. “You won’t be here _forever_ , Lo. I told you, we’re pullin’ a prison break as soon as we can.” He snorted, but fell back to being serious again quickly. “You’re getting better, I can tell. You’ll be out of here before you know it.” He promised. “And yeah, I’m leaving on Friday, but… I still have to see him at least three times before then.” He said, lowering his voice so the nurses couldn’t hear.

”As if...” Loki brushed off easily, swallowing thickly before he spoke again, but not about himself. ”Did you kiss his nose again? Oh, did you get a boner?” Loki asked, keeping his voice down and trying to hold back laughter.

“Lo!” Peter hissed, slapping the boy on the side of the arm. “Shut _up_!” He gestured with a quick jolt of his head over towards the door, indicating that the nurses were still stood outside. “Are you always gonna bring that up? No, I didn’t do any of that.” _I did worse_ , the boy thought to himself.

Loki snorted at how flustered Peter got before calming down. ”Then what happened?” The boy finally asked, only now noticing how red and puffy Peter’s eyes were from crying.

“I just…” Peter couldn’t tell Loki. Even if he was mad at the doctor, even if he hated him at the moment, he couldn’t say. “I thought he cared. But you’re right, he doesn’t. He never did. You… You said that Stark was alright because he was good at pretending to care, and I think I got so caught up in… _my crush_ ,” he whispered those two particular words, “that I forgot he was just pretending. And now I know he doesn’t care, and… it just hurts. That’s all.”

Loki hummed as he listened to Peter. ”Yeah, I get that... I mean, I’m kinda used to it now, you know? They get paid to care for us, so it’s not real. Not like a mom or- dad...” The boy added and both Bucky and Steve feel their hearts aching as they listen behind the door.

“I just wish I knew that earlier.” Peter sighed, scratching at the underside of his chin. “Just cos I call him… D-Daddy sometimes, doesn’t actually make him one. Not a real one.” He grumbled, blinking back more tears. “Fucking prick…” he huffed, before hopping up on the windowsill and patting it to invite Loki to sit with him. “Thank God I’ve got you here, eh?”

”No, I guess not...” Loki said quietly, thinking about all the years he had been under Banner’s care and how long he had called him Daddy. Getting distracted, Loki climbed up on the windowsill. ”Yeah! You wouldn’t have survived here without all my insider knowledge.” The boy said with a smirk, tapping at his temple.

Peter laughed at that, also bringing his hand up to poke at the boy’s temple. “You got that right.” They sat in silence for a little while, during which time Peter let his head drop to rest on Loki’s shoulder. “Fuck him.” He said finally, and he didn’t have to say the man’s name for Loki to know who he was talking about. “Fuck him _so much_.” He said, his voice trembling a little bit as he hurried to wipe a tear out of his eye.

”Fuck all of them.” Loki agreed, resting his cheek on Peter’s head. ”Like I said, lucky you get to leave tomorrow and you won’t have to deal with these assholes anymore.”

“Yeah… Lucky…” Peter mumbled, though he wasn’t sure how much he agreed with that. They fell silent once more, and Peter couldn’t deny that he felt a little bit better for having Loki here with him. He hummed a simple song under his breath, one that Uncle Ben used to sing to him, and while it made his heart ache a little, it reminded him that he was going home soon.

”And I mean... You have family to go back home to.” Loki said, looking out the window to avoid Peter’s eyes. ”I literally have no idea which continent my dad is on right now.”

Peter frowned at that. “Does he... does he travel a lot?” He asked, shuffling a little bit when he felt Loki’s head swivel to look out of the window.

”Yeah, he’s a diplomat, so... He has never been around much.” Loki said simply, still not meeting Peter’s eyes and began fiddling with his hands.

 “Huh... Has that always been the case?” Peter asked, but then suddenly felt bad. What if Loki didn’t want to talk about it, and Peter was pressuring him into it? He panicked a little. “Y-You don’t have to, uhm, don’t have to say anything if you don’t wanna. Just... just tell me to shut up and I will.”

”No, no, it’s okay.” Loki assured, glancing up at Peter. ”It’s okay.” He repeated, but didn’t elaborate further nor say anything else for a while, just looked out the window. Bucky and Steve were still behind the door, glad to hear that Peter had calmed down with Loki’s help.

Peter hummed, but slowly lifted his head off of Loki’s shoulder. He shuffled a little closer to the boy, then again, and then wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. He didn’t know if he was hugging Loki because of what he had mentioned about his father, or whether he needed contact comfort after what had happened with Stark. He just knew that the hug was what kept him grounded right now, and so he held on tightly.

Loki drew in a sharp breath when he got pulled into a hug, but quickly relaxed when he realised how nice it felt to have Peter’s warm weight against his own body. A little hesitantly, Loki wrapped his arms around Peter and held him back.

Peter smiled when he felt Loki’s arms wrap around him, and they stayed like that for a few moments. He eventually pulled back and sat with his back to the bordering wall of the windowsill, huffing a little sigh. “Wish I could get back at him somehow, but... last time I broke the rules, I ended up getting the belt.” He murmured, picking at a loose thread in his sweatpants. “‘m never really one to be, like, spiteful or petty or anythin’ but... you know when you just want someone to feel how they made you feel?”

”Revenge, you’re talking about revenge.” Loki snorted, sensing where Peter was going and liking it. ”So, what do you want to make Stark feel?” He asked with a lower voice so the nurses hopefully would not hear.

Peter glanced over at the door, before also dropping his voice. “I... I wanna see what it would be like to, uhm, make him jealous. I know he’s really competitive, remember when I told you about how I just mentioned Strange’s name and he nearly threw a hissy fit? I just... I wanna make him feel like that... towards me. But it’s dumb, and I dunno how.”

Loki smirked at the mention of Strange and nodded before thinking hard. ”Hmm... I mean, you’re right about Tony being a competitive bitch, but how to get him jealous...” He pondered aloud. ”He never talks about himself, so that’s kinda hard.”

Peter whined at that, making exaggerated hand gestures in Loki’s direction. “That’s another thing! He _never_  fuckin’ talks about himself!” He dropped his hands and sighed. “He doesn’t even like me, so it’s not like I could... flirt with someone else ‘n see how he reacts to it.” He said, though the idea planted itself in his mind. He wondered whether Loki would be comfortable with Peter flirting with him...

”It’s all part of the professionalism, the not caring, not for real, but Rogers and Barnes talk about themselves. Although it’s just about working out and stuff like that.” Loki rambled.

 “Yeah, yeah...” Peter hummed, though his mind was running at a million miles an hour at the thought of him flirting with someone just to see how the doctor would react. His mind filled with thoughts and scenarios of him and Loki being affectionate, only for Peter to be hauled off by Stark and made to admit who he belonged to. The thought of it made him shiver and he turned back to the boy, convinced. “Lo? How, uhm... How weird would it be if... if I pretended to flirt with you to make him jealous?” He asked in a low voice, still glancing over at the door.

Loki frowned at Peter and burst into giggles, but when he noticed that Peter wasn’t laughing, he stopped and frowned again. ”You’re serious?” The boy asked.

 “I... uh... maybe? Yes?” Peter cringed at himself, and for a moment he considered throwing himself out of the window. “I-I just thought cos we’re cl-close, you won’t really care, and then I-I can test my theory and then... yeah. S-Sorry, it was a dumb suggestion, forget it...” He mumbled, looking back down at his sweatpants.

”No, no!” Loki said, shaking his head. ”I mean, it’s dumb idea, yeah, but I’m still in.” The boy grinned. ”My brains rotting in here, so this sounds like something fun.” Loki said with laugh.

 “Fun? You mean... you’ll do it?” He said, and his heart pounded in his chest. He knew how Stark could get competitive about his work - would he get competitive about love too? Maybe it’ll show him what would happen if Stark actually let him go. He needed to feel the same heartbreak that Peter was feeling. He grinned at the boy, the first proper smile on his face in a while, and nodded. “It won’t... won’t be anything too crazy, I won’t be, like, kissing you or anything. Just small stuff, okay?”

Loki made a dismissive hand gesture with a confident smile. ”Trust me, we’ll get that bitch jealous.” Loki said and shoved at Peter playfully. Sensing that the conversation had come to an end, Loki and Peter fell silent for a while until they heard a knock on the door. Steve poked his head through the opening. ”Lunch is almost ready, boys.” The nurse informed, waiting for the two patients to follow him.

Peter grinned, in a far better mood than he had been in before. “Do it or die tryin’.” He said, shoving the boy back. Both their heads whipped up at the sight of Steve looking through the door and they nodded, heading out of Peter’s room together. As they headed down the corridor, the boys discussed how to make Stark jealous in hushed tones.

 _This better work_ , Peter thought to himself.


	42. 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> events in the canteen.

Seeing that it was lunchtime for the patients, Tony headed out of his office to see if he could find one of the nurses to ask about Peter. He found Bucky with two other patients in the hall leading to the canteen. ”How’s Peter?” The doctor asked once the patients were far enough not to hear.

”He was quite the mess, crying and upset. He refused to let us into his room, but then Loki came around and Peter let him in. So, they talked for a bit.” The nurse said.

Peter collapsed into the plastic chair by the canteen table, examining the sandwich carefully as if it had been poisoned. He shrugged and bit into it, one eye on the canteen door. “I have a session with him later and I _really_  don’t wanna go... not after he’s been such a prick this whole time.” He said while eating, turning to look at Loki again.

”They’ll force you if you don’t go, you know? Literally drag you to his office. And I mean, look at you. You don’t stand a chance against them.” Loki said with laugh, gesturing to the nurses Steve and Thor stood behind them by the wall.

Peter huffed, rolling his eyes at the nurses as he glanced over at them. “They’re strong, but I bet they’re not fast. I could outrun them any day.” He said, grinning to himself. “I’m not as weak as I once was, I think I could stand a chance.” However, he was cut short when he saw Stark enter the canteen with Bucky. His face turned dark and he looked over at Loki. “Look who’s shown up.”

Turning to look where Peter was looking, Loki narrowed his eyes at the doctor. ”Bitch...” He grumbled, watching carefully as Stark made his way over to Steve and Thor along with Bucky. ”What’s he doing here? The doctors never hang around here.” Loki pondered aloud.

Peter snorted at Loki’s quiet insult, taking another look at Stark before turning back to his friend. “I dunno. Don’t care, really. He can do what he wants.” He said, and leaned closer to Loki to place a hand on this shoulder. “You don’t mind me testing the theory now, right?” He asked in a low voice, purposefully avoiding looking in Stark’s direction.

”Nope, lets go ahead.” Loki said with a wicked grin. ”But, patients aren’t allowed to be _that_  intimate, so no kissing. Got it?”

Peter nodded, but pretended to look downtrodden. “No kissing? Awh, you know I can’t keep my hands off you, Lo...” he teased, grinning mischievously at the boy who reflected his expression like a raven-haired mirror. “I don’t wanna look at him, though, so I’m not gonna know how he reacts.”

”I’ll keep track of that.” Loki smiled smugly, turning in his seat so that he could see the staff members more easily before stepping into character. ”Peter, stop!” The boy giggled and shoved at Peter gently, as if the boy had just said something funny or teasing.

Peter blinked once or twice, impressed by how quickly the boy was able to get into character. _He’ll do well in acting_ , he thought to himself, before also giggling. “You like it really!” He said clearly, before grabbing the boy’s hand from his shoulder and resting it on the table. He then leaned forward, hand still holding Loki’s arm down, and whispered into his ear: “Act like I’m telling you something flirty.” He leaned back and winked cheekily, aware that Stark could see the side of his face he winked with.

Loki giggled like a school boy, still very much in character and squirmed happily where he sat to appear flustered. ”No, I don’t, you’re a meanie, Petey.” Loki giggled.

Peter grinned back, wider this time, and leant his elbow on the table to rest his chin in the palm of his hand. “Yes you do, stop tryin’ to lie to me!” He said. “You know I don’t like you lyin’ to me, Lo...” he said, batting his eyelashes subtly and letting his puppy dog eyes expression take over his face.

Tony turned to look at Peter and Loki who were sat together when he heard obnoxious giggling and flirty tones of voice. ”Is Loki in a _too good_  mood?” Tony said quietly to the three other nurses. ”There wasn’t a mix up with the meds, were there?”

Peter was about to say something else, but Loki seemed to spot something out of the corner of his eye. This was confirmed when the boy leant in and whispered that Stark was looking at them, and a flash of emotion shot through Peter. It was like he could _feel_  the doctor’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look around. He wouldn’t break that easily. Instead, he simply scooted closer to the other boy and smiled as prettily as he could, batting his eyelashes again. “You know something? You have _such_  nice eyes, I’ve never really looked at them properly before.” He hummed, his voice a purr as he gazed at the boy in front of him.

”I don’t think so...” Steve said with a frown as he looked at the two boys. Tony continued to look at Peter and suddenly felt... jealous?

”Fuck...” Loki snorted and turned his head, breaking out of character for a few seconds, but it still fit in a way because they still appeared like two lovesick teenagers.

"I'm being serious!" Peter laughed, and his smile reached his eyes when he did so. He reached forward to cup the boy's face in his hands and turn his head towards him, much like how Stark had cupped his face when he kissed him earlier. Peter wasn't going to kiss him, but there was a definite intimacy that he was sure that Stark would pick up on, if he was even looking in their direction.

”Oh...” Bucky winced when he saw how close the two patients were getting.

”I got it.” Tony said and walked over to the table Loki and Peter were sat at. ”What do you two think you’re doing?” The doctor asked and looked down at the two boys. ”You both know about the rules when it comes to intimacy between patients.”

Peter’s smile dropped from his face when Stark approached them. He made dark eye contact with him and dropped his hands from Loki’s face, letting them hit the table with a “thud”. He turned back to the boy, like the doctor didn’t exist, and began to speak again. “At least _you_  actually like me, Lo. Only one in here who does.” He said, resting his chin on his hand and ignoring the doctor entirely.

”Yes, we know, Doc.” Loki said in a bored tone and added an eyeroll to the drama. ”Peter and I are just friends. Do you have something against that too?” Loki challenged and Tony narrowed his eyes just a fraction.

”You can be friends, of course, but the rules are clear.” The doctor said, feeling ridiculously hypocritical and wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

Peter’s face morphed into a smug grin at Loki’s challenge. He was so, _so_  glad that the other boy was just as willing as him to fuck with Stark’s head. When hearing about the rules, Peter couldn’t resist snorting. “Ah, yes, because you’re _such_ a stickler for the rules, Doctor Stark.” He said, still not looking at him but the venom in his voice as clear as day.

 _Son of a..._ Tony thought to himself and for a second he wanted nothing more than to strangle Peter right there and then. ”I am, Parker.” Tony shot back. ”The rules are in place for your own safety.” He argued. Oh Lord, Tony dreaded the session later when he would have to ask Peter about his sudden change in behaviour. Couldn’t May come get him right away instead and spare him the torture?

“Oh, oh, for our _safety_?” Peter finally turned to look at the doctor with hard eyes, ones that showed nothing of the puppy-dog features he usually had. They were wild, and they were daring, and they were angry. “God, Doctor Stark, you really are _chivalrous_ , aren’t you? Always looking to do the right thing. For “safety”.” He held eye contact with the doctor while Loki watched on. “Me ‘n Loki are fine. We’re “safe”.”

Tony caught the double meaning of Peter’s statements and felt himself grow a little hot. How dare the kid talk to him like this? After all he had done for him? The doctor worked hard to keep his anger in check and sighed. ”Peter, let’s go and talk about this. In private.” He added before Loki could chime in with something snarky.

Peter’s hardened exterior cracked a little bit when Stark asked him to speak to him in private, but a quick look over at Loki had him squaring his shoulders. “No.” He said, his jaw clenched. “I don’t want to. I want to stay here with Loki.” He added, shuffling closer to his friend like he was daring Stark to bring up the rules again.

Tony considered his options for a while before sighing. ”All right. You can stay here on one condition. You’ll come to my office for our session later like planned, yes?” The doctor bargained, as he felt that Peter would try to get out of the session.

Peter huffed and rubbed at his temples, exasperated and exhausted by their interaction. “You people and your fucking _c_ _onditions_ … Fine.” He said, before turning back to Loki like the conversation with Stark had never happened. He rolled his eyes in a “get a load of this guy” gesture, before leaning forward and whispering something incomprehensible to Stark in Loki’s ear.

Loki snorted and giggled at what Peter had said and Tony left with a quiet grumble. He headed over to the nurses again. ”So, what happened?” Bucky asked.

”Tantrums.” Tony scoffed. ”I think Peter is having a hard time, considering he’s leaving soon.” The nurses nodded in understanding while Tony swallowed thickly.

Once Stark had left them alone, Peter’s smile quickly returned to his face and he continued to poke and tease Loki to make him giggle. He didn’t care whether the doctor was looking at him anymore. “Do you think he’s jealous yet?” He snorted, that mischievous look on his face not shifting.

”Stop! End of scene!” Loki laughed and batted Peter’s hand away. ”It’s hard to read him, but you got him feeling _something_.”

Peter laughed and immediately withdrew his hand from the boy’s shoulder, where he had been poking him. The sickly sweet smile on his face turned into a genuine, cheeky one as he consciously stopped flirting with Loki. “Yeah, well… That’s his problem, not mine. You’re brilliant, dude, seriously.” He said in awe. “Ever thought about being an actor?”

Loki glowed at the praise and smiled widely. ”I did, actually, but then...” The boy said and gestured to his head.

Peter was taken aback for a moment by just how wide and genuine Loki’s smile was. He had seen Loki smile before, sure, but this seemed different. “Right, right… Well, when you get out, you should try it for real. And if you get rich and famous, I’m expecting a Lambourghini, alright?” He joked, dodging the boy’s playful shove to his shoulder. He glanced up at the clock on the canteen wall, and realised that in an hour he’d be having his second session of the day. “Fuck…”

Loki was so wrapped up in the praise and thrill of challenging one of the doctors that he did not notice Peter’s mood dropping right away. ”I mean, mood, but what’s up?”

“Gotta go to Stark’s session in an hour. To be honest, I might just bunk it and stay in my room. I mean, you said they’ll drag me there, but not if I like… barricade the door or something.” Peter snorted, though that dull weight in his chest had quickly returned. “I’ll be fine, I… I’ll think of something.”


	43. 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things only get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright me n raf have decided that we're gonna start doing chapters every OTHER day simply because it gives us time to write. also i'm going away to my grandma's for the week so i won't have my laptop to update the fic every day.

The hour came and went, with Peter saying goodbye to Loki and the raven-haired boy wishing him luck. He kind of wished that he hadn’t, because now he was left with an anxious feeling in his chest and that weight still in his stomach. He was sat on the floor with his back against the door again, this time reading one of his Asterix comics. He knew he was currently missing his session, but he didn’t want to talk to Stark anyway.

”Peter, buddy.” Steve said and knocked on Peter’s door. He had gotten the task to escort the boy to the session with his doctor yet again, but suddenly he was very reluctant to going for some reason. ”Peter, tell me what’s going on.” He prompted, hating how Peter seemed to be closing up. It was like he had arrived at the facility yesterday and was fighting everything and everyone. He wondered what had prompted Peter into not being his animated and giggly self.

“Nope.” Peter said, popping the ‘P’. “I don’t want to, Rogers, so just leave me alone.” He said, turning the page of his comic. Just two more days, and he’d be out of here. “I’m not gonna go to someone who blatantly doesn’t care about me, and don’t try and give me that shit of ‘Oh, he does care’, cos he doesn’t, alright? I’m doing myself a favour.”

Steve was about to argue back and make a compromise in one way or another, but then he heard footsteps coming down the hall. ”Rogers.” Tony said, coming up to Peter’s door. ”I got this.” He said quietly and gestured for the nurse to leave them. Knocking on the door sharply three times, he spoke loudly. ”Peter Benjamin Parker!”

Peter went back to reading his comic, but the sudden knock at the door scared the living daylights out of him. He made a noise a bit like a screech and instantly backed away from the door, turning so he was facing it and scrambling backwards with his hands. His heart was pounding, but he said nothing and simply waited. If he needed to, he could just run. He could run.

Tony heard how Peter scrambled back from the door and moved to open it. The doctor stepped into the patient’s room and closed the door behind him swiftly. ”What _the hell_  do you think you are doing?” Tony asked sharply, looking down at Peter on the floor.

Peter had never seen the doctor look so angry in his life. He had no idea what to do, not when Stark had closed the door as soon as he stepped inside. Running was no longer an option with the man’s figure blocking the door, and all he could do was look up at the man with wide, fearful eyes. “I- I…” His heart pounded in his chest, and his arms trembled as he held himself up.

”Your little _stunt_  in the canteen? What was that all about? I thought we had a deal! Are you trying to get me fired?” Tony bombarded Peter with questions and accusations, barely taking in a breath in between each because he was so blinded by his anger.

Peter’s blood went ice cold, and his entire body trembled violently. Ever so slowly, he began to shift himself backwards, using his arms to push himself away from the man until his back was planted against the opposite wall. He couldn’t breathe, and each open-mouth inhale seemed to tighten his chest further. “I- I can e-explain… I-It’s not…” He didn’t even know what he was saying, he just knew that this was only going to end one way. It always did when people stopped caring about him.

”You can explain?” Tony scoffed with a smile, although it wasn’t a happy one, but more of a mocking smile. ”Then lets hear it.” He said and folded his arms in front of his chest.

Peter couldn’t explain. He couldn’t say anything, he simply opened and closed his mouth like he was a gasping fish. He continued to shake hopelessly, and as he tried to enunciate what he was thinking, he became more and more panicked. This was it. This was when Stark realised that Peter wasn’t worth the time, or the effort, and he would leave him. This was going to be it, and Peter realised that when he saw the venomous, mocking smile on the man’s face.

Tony watched Peter carefully and grew even more frustrated when the boy did not explain himself like he had said he would. ”Say something!” The doctor snapped, but regretted it a second later and felt his stomach drop when he saw how hard Peter flinched.

At the sudden noise, Peter’s hands flew up to protect his face and head. He held them there for a moment, breathing raggedly through his mouth with his eyes squeezed shut. His chest rose and fell heavily, as did his shoulders. He wasn’t crying, not yet, but that same weight could be felt behind his eyes and he kept them shut to avoid looking Stark in the face. “D-Dah…” He couldn’t even complete his sentence, his breathing becoming so panicked that it made him shake.

 _Shit, shit, shit_ , Tony thought to himself, realising he hadn’t just crossed a line, but stomped over it without a care in the world. He had used the one thing that Peter had opened up about against him, he had shouted at Peter and made the boy believe he was at fault for making him unhappy. ”Fuck... Peter?” The doctor tried gently, crouching down to the floor and speaking far more softly now. He tried to hold tears back as he looked at how upset he had made Peter, his _own_ patient.

Peter’s eyes flew open to see Stark crouching in front of him and instantly he made a noise of utter fear. He tried to scramble backwards, but seeing as he was already against the wall he had no choice but to go sideways into a corner. This was all a trick, he thought to himself, Stark was only going to get more mad and there was nothing he could do to stop it, because it was all his fault. “I-I’m suh-sorry!” He cried, as he brought his knees up to his chest to make himself as small as possible.

”No, no, Peter-” Tony tried, but quickly realised that his voice sounded far too emotional and shaky to have any effect on a panicking patient. Taking a deep breath to try and calm his own nerves and put his own inner turmoil aside, Tony spoke again. ”Peter, it’s just Daddy. I’m sorry for shouting at you. You did nothing wrong.” The doctor assured Peter, hoping he would calm down a little.

 “I-I did!” Peter cried back, his face screwed up in emotional turmoil as he stared at the Doctor. “I-I-I made D-Daddy mad and- and- and- h-he’s gonna l-leave me cos I m-made him mad a-and I-I don’t wanna b-be left alone again, and- and- and-“ Peter was almost hyperventilating with how quickly he was breathing. He was still as far against the corner of the room as his body would allow, like he was terrified that Stark would come any closer.

”Peter, Peter.” Tony repeated calmly, trying to catch the boy’s eyes while slowly getting closer to him. ”Daddy’s not mad, okay? Daddy made a mistake and I shouldn’t have shouted at you. You did nothing wrong, Peter. This was all my fault, not yours.” The doctor explained, but did not just yet say something about the leaving part. He did not want to make promises he could not keep.

Peter shook his head wildly, his hair falling in his eyes as he did so. “D-Daddy only y-yelled cos I _m-made_  Daddy mad. ‘s my f-fault!” He whimpered, not noticing how Stark seemed to be getting closer and closer to him. He pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down to form sweater paws, and then used those to cover his face. “‘s my fault, ‘s my fault, ‘s my fault.” He chanted hopelessly. “D-Daddy’s gonna leave ‘n ‘s my fault.” His words became more and more slurred, a clear indication of his headspace slipping.

”Peter, you did nothing wrong, all right? I was the one at fault and Daddy is very sorry for that.” Tony continued to argue, keeping his tone gentle. He kept his hands up to show that he meant no harm.

Peter slowly moved his sweater paws away from his face, where fresh tears had started to track down his cheeks, and he looked at the Doctor with his bottom lip caught between his teeth. “Y-You promise?” He said, his eyes glancing up at the door and then back down at the doctor.

”I promise.” Tony said quickly to seem genuine, which he was being, but little boy’s could misinterpret things very easily. ”Pink promise.” He said and offered out his hand with his pinky stretched out.

Peter looked at the outstretched pinky warily. Then, much like a wild deer approaching someone for food, he ever so slowly shuffled forward until he was close enough to wrap his pinky finger around Stark’s. His nature at this very moment probably reminded the doctor of Bambi, what with his wide, chocolate brown eyes and how nervous he was about approaching the doctor. Once he dropped his hand he shuffled backwards a little bit - not as far back as he had previously been, but just to clear some space between them.

”There.” Tony said with a smile once Peter and he sealed the deal with a little shake. ”That’s a good boy.” The doctor said gently, keeping an eye on his patient’s breathing. He was pleased to see that Peter was starting to calm down, but they still had a way to go. ”Tell Daddy what you’re thinking about.”

Peter’s heart slowed down a little when Stark called him a good boy. Even though he didn’t feel like he was one, it calmed him down more than he realised. Slowly, he slid his legs down so that his knees were no longer up by his chest and his legs were flat out on the floor in front of him. “I- I made D-Daddy mad, c-cos I was tr-trying to make him… him j-jealous ‘n- ‘n now he know ‘m a bad person s-so he’s gonna… gonna leave.”

”You were trying to make me jealous? Tell me why you tried that.” Tony prompted, getting a little closer to Peter, considering how he was dropping down his guard.

“Cos… cos I thought Daddy didn’t… didn’t want me any more. Thought that Daddy was b-bored of me. Wanted to m-make Daddy want me again, so… f-flirted with Lo…” He admitted quietly, his hands in front of him and twisting in his lap. He wasn’t looking at Stark any more, simply gazed down at his lap as he talked.

”Daddy’s _not_  bored of you, baby boy, and I want you to stay here.” Tony began explaining. ”But, there are rules that say that you have to go back home. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want you, though.” The doctor said with a smile, trying to catch Peter’s eyes.

Peter whimpered at the pet name, which only served to push him further into his headspace. He brought his legs back up to his chest to make himself physically smaller, and finally lifted his gaze to look the man in the face briefly. He saw a smile but couldn’t replicate it. “Daddy d-doesn’t wanna kiss me anymore…” He said quietly, and his heart ached as he said it.

 _Oh, God_ , Tony thought to himself and swallowed thickly to get the lump out of his throat. ”Of course I want to kiss you, baby boy.” He assured, getting a little closer again so that he was just a few inches away from Peter’s legs. ”But, there are rules that say you have to leave on Friday and we cannot kiss after that. Do you understand?” Tony asked gently, lifting a hand up to place on the boy’s knee.

Peter nodded, but his heart was still broken and his face showed this as clear as day. When Stark’s hand touched his knee he couldn’t help flinching, and he looked up at the doctor with fear in his eyes. However, when Stark did nothing more, he let the hand rest on his knee.

Seeing that Peter did not flinch away, Tony decided to ask. ”Do you want me to hold you, Petey? It’s okay if you don’t want to.” The doctor assured, giving the boy’s knee a little squeeze.

“I… I don’t know.” Peter answered truthfully. On the one hand, he desperately wanted the contact comfort from Stark to make him feel better, but being so close to him was what got them into this mess in the first place.

”Okay, we can just sit like this for a while, yeah?” Tony suggested, moving his hand to rub at Peter’s shin and then back up at his knee. Sometimes, it was simple biology and the body needed time to calm down from an adrenaline rush. The doctor was patient and sat with Peter and simply sat with him in silence, trying his hardest to radiate as much calmness as possible despite his own emotional turmoil.

Peter nodded, his lips pursed and his eyes cast down to where Stark’s hand was on his knee, but he didn’t say anything. They sat in silence for a while, and Peter didn’t move an inch while Stark rubbed his leg. After a minute or two, Peter spoke. “‘m sorry. For... For making you y-yell.” Even despite Stark’s reassurances, the feeling that he had ultimately caused this entire event still hung heavy over his head, and he couldn’t shake that feeling.

”No, no, Peter.” Tony said, shaking his head. ”I- uhm, Christ... This is all my fault, and I mean all of it.” He said and thought for a bit before continuing. ”I shouldn’t have let things... escalate the way they did, from the very beginning, I mean.” The doctor tried to explain, but found that to be very hard and stuttered as he spoke. ”This is all my fault, okay?” Tony repeated, squeezing Peter’s knee again.

Peter listened to the man talk, and his heart sat heavy in his chest. He was beginning to age up, bit by bit. “D-Do you regret it? This?” He asked, glancing down to the hand on his knee which made it clear what he was referring to. Did Doctor Stark regret their arrangement, what had happened between them over the last few weeks? Peter didn’t know.

”I-” Tony began, but did not know what to say right away and sighed. ”Sort of... I mean, if anyone finds out about just one of the sessions and what we- what _I_  have done to you, I can never practice again. I’ll lose my license and... Well, probably more than just that.” The doctor chuckled sadly.

Peter’s blood ran cold. He did regret it. But Peter didn’t. “I- I don’t.” He said quietly, and he slowly moved his leg so that his knee slipped out of Stark’s grasp and was pulled up towards his chest. “That medical exam, that… that was my first kiss.” He admitted quietly. “I thought it meant something, but…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, his arms wrapping around his legs like he was protecting himself from the doctor in front of him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Tony had been an arrogant, narcissistic and overall confident type all his life. After all, he knew a thing or two about personality and could easily make a psychological profile of a patient, no matter how hard it may be. The doctor rarely questioned himself, as he quickly realised there was no need to because he was always right. But now, Tony felt all that confidence, both personally and professionally, crumble away and he was left speechless. He had thoroughly messed up.

Peter let out a shaky breath when he realised that Stark wasn’t going to reply, and continued to speak. “I thought that m-maybe I’d found someone who… who actually liked me, and n-not just out of obligation. But Loki… Loki was right. You’re paid to care.” He said, the boy’s comments floated around his head. “Lovesick puppy.” He said quietly, almost like he could hear the other patient’s voice in his ear, echoing in his skull. After a few moments of silence, he sighed. “I think you should go.” His voice was gentle but undeniably firm, and offered little leeway for argument.

‘Paid to care’, _well not for much longer_ , Tony thought to himself as he was positive that Peter was going to tell on him. But, somehow he didn’t care and rose up from the floor. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and left quietly. The doctor had only cried a handful of times at work, but today was one of those rare occasions and he hurried to his office to figure out what on Earth he should do with himself.


	44. 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and thor.

Peter didn’t watch the man leave, but as soon as he heard the door click shut he let go of his legs and let himself spread out against the floor. After a few seconds he got up and headed over to his bed where Spidey was sat. He collapsed onto the mattress and held onto the stuffie as tightly as he possibly could. No tears came, though he felt like he’d cried enough to fill the Atlantic Ocean. Part of him wondered whether telling another staff member what had happened was worth it, but he shook the thought from his head. He was upset, but he didn’t want to intentionally ruin the man’s life.

Slamming the door shut behind him, Tony began pacing in his office. ”You fucking idiot...” The doctor muttered to himself as he dry scrubbed his face with his hands. He paced back and forth, feeling himself panic more and more with each fast breath. Suddenly, his eyes fell upon his certificate that was framed and hanging up on the wall. It gave him the right to practice as a psychiatrist, but Tony was overwhelmed with a sudden urge to throw it right out the window. He marched up to the framed picture and grabbed the frame, staring at his own name as he heaved for breath.

Peter couldn’t even describe his mood as upset any more. A familiar numbness settled in him, chilling his bones and making the world slow down. He laid on his side in bed, looking down at the stuffie in his arms. This wasn’t the first time that those who he had trusted were taken away from him, nor would it probably be the last, but for some reason this one hurt more. It didn’t matter anyway, he thought to himself, he was going to leave on Friday and then somebody else would be replacing him in the patient’s chair in Stark’s office.

”Licensed psychiatrist, my ass...” Tony grumbled and finally snapped as he pulled his arm back and punched the frame. The picture fell to the floor and Tony watched the glass break into pieces as he heaved for breath. It took a while for him to register the pain radiating from his hand and only when he looked down at it did he realise he was bleeding. ”Fucking hell...”

Peter considered telling Loki about what’s been happening these last few weeks, but decided against it. He had no way of knowing that the boy wouldn’t go and tell someone, especially since he hated the staff here so much. The thought of having to deal with this by himself was the thing that finally made him begin to cry. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed before leaning forward and grasping two hands in his hair. He tugged at his hair as his breathing turned to sobs, and his entire body shook violently. He could feel hairs splitting in his grip, which grounded him, but he otherwise bawled until he couldn’t breathe.

Tony examined his own hand carefully to see if any of the glass had gotten under his skin, but he could not find any and moved to get the first aid kit from his desk. Patching himself up gave the doctor a distraction, and so did the pain, and eventually he felt himself calm down. Flexing his bandaged hand a little, Tony suddenly thought of Peter and how the boy might need some patching up too, although emotionally. He wanted to go see Peter himself, he wanted to so badly, but then he remembered the boy’s clear instruction for him to leave. Getting his pager out, Tony sent a message to Thor.

Peter stopped crying after a while, his throat raw and his cheeks stained with saltwater, and he brought a hand through his hair to smooth it out after he had gripped at it. His heart sank when he heard a knock on the door, and although he wanted to scream at them to fuck off and leave him alone, he had a feeling that wouldn’t work anymore. “What?” He called out.

”Peter, it’s Thor.” The nurse said before entering slowly as not to scare the boy. ”You don’t seem too good. What’s up?” He asked and came over to Peter’s bed, crouching down so that their eyes were more or less at level.

Peter didn’t know whether to be happy or not that it was Thor at the door, rather than Stark. Why wasn’t Stark here himself, trying to make things right? The boy swallowed thickly when he made hesitant eye contact with the nurse, trying to appear more put-together than he was. “It’s nothin’, Thor. I just… It’s nothin’.” He mumbled, clearly lying but for his own sanity.

”Doesn’t seem like nothing.” Thor chuckled lightly, taking in Peter’s state. The boy was obviously worked up about something, and the nurse would guess that it was about leaving the next day, but he did not want to make any assumptions. ”Tell me what’s going on, Peter. What are you thinking about?” Thor prompted with a smile.

Peter didn’t really want to speak to Thor. He just wanted to be left alone, but the soft smile on the nurses face put him ease a little bit. “I… Have you ever had somethin’ good, but then it kinda blows up in your face? And then any time you try ‘n do something about it, you just… make things worse?” He mumbled. That was the vaguest possible description, but he didn’t want to go into detail. He _couldn’t_  go into detail.

Thor nodded as he listened to Peter explain. ”Yeah, I have, buddy. And I think most have in fact. What you’re explaining is very- human? Yeah, that’s the word.” The nurse said, hoping that realising he wasn’t alone would give him some comfort. ”We all make mistakes, even when trying to make things right, and that’s okay. What’s important, is to try and not make the same mistake again, yeah?”

Peter took a second to think, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah…” He echoed, but offered nothing else in terms of commentary. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and let it drag between his teeth, clearly deep in thought, and then his eyes flickered back up to where Thor was crouched and watching him. “Sorry, ‘m  just… ‘m not the best at talking.”

”No, no, you’re really good at it, in fact. I understand what you mean, bud.” Thor said with a wide smile, pleased that his techniques were working. ”Talking can be really hard, but I think you’re good at it.” The nurse praised.

Peter tried to smile back at the nurse, but couldn’t get very far before it turned into a weird grimace. “Thanks.” He mumbled, scratching his neck again. “D-Do… do you wanna sit on the bed? Crouching isn’t… isn’t good for your knees.” He asked, shuffling sideways so that there was room for the nurse to sit if he wanted to.

”Thanks, buddy. That’s nice of you.” Thor said and got up with a comedic groan. He moved to sit next to Peter and looked over at him. ”Is this okay?” He asked.

Peter couldn’t help but giggle at the deep groan that Thor let out. He suddenly remembered Loki’s description of the man’s voice being like thunder, and he understood why he thought that. “Yeah, yeah, ‘s fine.” He hummed, not looking back at the nurse but instead staring down at his hands. He couldn’t stop thinking about Loki’s comment. “Lovesick puppy...” he mumbled under his breath, and he cursed himself inwardly for thinking he was anything but that.

Thor sat in silence and let Peter be for a while, but then he heard the boy mumble something and turned his head ”What was that?” The nurse asked.

Peter jumped a little when Thor spoke to him. He was so in his own head that he had briefly forgotten that the man was sitting next to him, even though the bed was dipping ever so slightly under the nurse’s weight. “Huh? Oh, n-nothing. ‘s just… ‘s just somethin’ Lo told me a while back. ‘s nothin’.” He said, making quick eye contact with the nurse before looking back at his hands.

”I see.” Thor nodded and didn’t ask more, but he saw a chance to talk about something else. ”You and Loki have grown quite close, yeah?”

Peter nodded at that. “Yeah, we… we have. I’m gonna miss him when I leave, knowin’ I can’t see him again after this.” He said, thinking about how distraught Loki got every time they mentioned Peter leaving. “I wanna be able to keep in contact, but… I dunno how that’s gonna be possible.”

”I understand.” Thor nodded as he listened. ”You can leave your phone number here and then Loki can call you when he gets phone privileges.” The nurse suggested, but did not make any bigger promises than that. Sadly, Loki would have to stay at the facility for quite some time, but Thor could not talk about that.

Peter sighed. “Yeah, but… talkin’ to someone over the phone isn’t the same as… as seein’ them in person all the time, you know?” He said, swinging his legs back and forth off the bed. “’m gonna miss him a lot. He… God, this sounds stupid, but he _understands_  me, you know? Even if he does tease the shit outta me sometimes, he gets it.”

”Yeah, yeah, I get that.” Thor nodded. ”Many patients feel like you do, you know? So, you’re not alone there.” The nurse said with a little smile.

"Mm." Peter hummed in response, but didn't say much else. He couldn't deny that having Thor with him, even just sitting with him, made his mood a little better than before. The dude was a big softie under all that muscle, a softie with a heart of gold, and Peter couldn't help but like him. "I see why you're Loki's favourite..." He hummed under his breath, glancing up at the nurse for a second.

”I'm Loki's favourite?” Thor asked in disbelief, raising his eyebrows in a slightly shocked expression. ”That's high praise for sure.” He chuckled and genuinely felt warm inside at hearing one of the most troublesome patients he had ever worked with liked him.

"Shit... You weren't supposed to... You can't tell him I told you that! He'd kill me..." Peter groaned, rubbing at his face with his hands. "But yeah, you are. He, uhm, he told me about what happened at the other hospital. I don't really know much else about what happened, but... he trusts you. So I do as well." He said, watching the nurse carefully. "Thanks for sitting with me."

”I won't tell him, promise.” Thor chuckled and placed his index finger on his lips to show that he wouldn't tell. ”And you're very welcome, bud.” The nurse said with a smile and lifted a hand to ruffle Peter's hair.

Peter smiled back, but made a whine of complaint when Thor ruffled his hair, like he was offended that Thor would try and mess up his hair. He batted the man's hand away with a laugh, and it turned into a game of Thor trying to touch his hair and Peter trying to push his hand away unsuccessfully. It made the boy giggle, and after a while he conceded and let the man ruffle his hair. "You're alright, Odinson." He said finally, slumping his shoulders forward and gazing at the nurse for a few seconds.

”You're not so bad either, Parker.” Thor grinned and ruffled the boy's hair one last time. ”Have you started packing your stuff yet?” The nurse asked.

"Uhm..." Peter gazed around his room, where what little belongings he had were strewn around. "Not really, but only cos there's not much to pack. Don't really have to worry about it 'til the last second." He said, his eyes glancing over to the Asterix comic that had been abandoned on the floor after Stark had stormed in.

”Yeah, yeah.” Thor agreed and looked around the small room before asking. ”How do you feel about leaving?”

Peter was still looking at the comic on the floor when Thor asked his question. He snorted in response, not taking his eyes off of the floor. "Good question." He said a little cynically. He had no idea how he felt about leaving any more. All the positives and negatives seemed to blend and mash together to the point where he couldn't pick them out any more, they just existed as an emotional weight in the back of his mind. He stayed quiet while the cogs turned in his head, not even answering the nurse's question.

Before Thor could ask more, his pager went off and he glanced down at it. ”Ah, I gotta go, kiddo.” The nurse said and got up from the bed. ”I’ll see you around, yeah? Great talk.” Thor said quickly with a smile before he had to hurry off.

Peter couldn’t deny that his heart sank a little when Thor announced he had to leave. He didn’t like him as much as Loki did, sure, but there was something nice about his company. “Yeah, see you later.” He said as the nurse left the room. “Great talk, greeeeeeat talk…” he mumbled to himself as he looked around the room. He hoisted himself up and began to grab his stuff, folding it up and putting it into his bag for when he had to leave tomorrow.


	45. 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another argument.

Friday morning came, and Peter woke up shortly before breakfast. He checked then double checked his room, making sure there was nothing amiss or forgotten about before he shut his bag and put it on his bed. He went to breakfast as usual, chatting with Loki as he tried to ignore the huge anticipation of leaving in the back of his mind. Rogers came and picked him up for his morning session, as usual, and left him by Stark’s office door. He knocked tentatively. “Doctor Stark?” He peered in to see the doctor at his desk, as always.

”Hello, Peter.” Tony said, relieved to see that Peter came to his office without a fuss despite what had happened the day before. Still, there was plenty of awkwardness left. Tony anticipated that as he made his way over to the two chairs like usual.

Peter side-stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him, and also walked over to his usual chair. When he sat down, the first thing he noticed was the sizeable bandage that was wrapped around the doctor’s right hand, particularly around his knuckles. “What… What happened to your hand?” He asked, gesturing to it with a nod of his head.

”Oh- uhm...” Tony said and looked down at his own hand as if he just now realised it was bandaged. ”I- uhm... burnt it on the stove.” _Nice one, dumbass_ , Tony thought to himself before quickly asking. ”Anyway, how are you doing, Peter?”

 _Burnt it on the stove?_ Wouldn’t that hurt the palm of his hand, not the back? Peter frowned, narrowing his eyes at the bandaging before looking back up at the doctor. “I’m… fine. Me ‘n Thor talked a bunch yesterday.” He said, leaving it openly vague. Stark could worry about what that involved, Peter decided.

Tony noted how Peter narrowed his eyes at him, but did not ask about it. ”And what did you talk about?” Tony asked, already growing a little hot where he sat. He prayed to God that he could last an hour with Peter without doing something ridiculously stupid, again.

Peter shrugged, lifting his legs to cross them in a lotus shape on the seat. He didn’t particularly care about his shoes being on the seat like he used to, instead gazed down at the loose thread that was peeking out the waistband of his sweatpants. “You know, just... stuff.” He hummed, knowing full well how badly that would drive Stark up the wall. “I, uhm, I was meaning to ask if we could write that note for my school? You... You said that you would, so...”

Tony caught onto Peter’s short response right away. The boy was still upset with him and toying with him and the doctor wanted to play that game, to challenge Peter, but he hardly saw any point in doing that as it would probably just make things worse. After all, he was leaving in a few hours, so Tony gave in to Peter’s request. ”Of course. What would you like it to say?” Tony asked and got up to fetch a notepad.

Peter hummed. “I… I dunno. Maybe somethin’ like where I’ve been the last few months ‘n… how it’s gonna be a bit more difficult for me to… to properly go back to routine, so if they could cut me some slack, that’d be great? That, but in fancy wording.” He said, cracking his knuckles nervously.

Tony nodded as he more or less let Peter dictate what the note said, writing down half sentences to fill out properly later. ”And I suggested some extra time on due dates. Would you like that too?” The doctor asked. No matter how angry he was with Peter, he still wanted to help him as much as possible.

 “Oh, oh, yeah. The due dates, that’d be great.” Peter nodded. To be honest, he was surprised that the two of them had gotten this far into the conversation without trying to rip into each other. The undercurrent of awkwardness and anger was still there, but for now they were actually being perfectly civil.

”Hmm.” Tony hummed as he noted down to write about the due dates too. ”Is there anything else you’d like your teachers to know? Mind you, I will not write about what we have talked about or- done together. I’ll write in very vague terms, but your teachers will still hopefully understand. Doctor-patient confidentiality, right Peter?” The doctor assured, just in case Peter was worried about his teachers knowing, but also to remind him to keep his own mouth shut.

Peter nearly burst out laughing at that. ‘Doctor-patient confidentiality’, was he fucking serious? About five hundred thoughts went through his head at that moment, but one stood out - ‘Coward’. He took a breath and then looked the doctor dead in the eye. “Of course, Doctor Stark. They don’t need to know much else.” He couldn’t help the malice in his voice, the anger that he felt at how Stark was still trying to arrogantly save face and keep his job. “Confidentiality is _very_  important.” He said in a bored tone, looking down at his fingers. Whatever. He could let the man deal with his own guilt, Peter didn’t care.

Tony dropped his pen and looked at Peter in front of him. He was not intimidated, or at least tried to convince himself that he wasn’t. After a few seconds, the doctor made a plan on how to gain control back, although it involved a lot of broken rules and guidelines. ”Yeah, confidentiality is important. Without it, I could legally tell all the staff here what you’ve been telling me these weeks you’ve spent here. I bet your teachers would have a hysterical laugh when they hear that you’ve been calling me ‘Daddy’. Don’t you think so, Parker?” The doctor said and wondered deep down how on Earth he ended up in a situation where he would have to threaten a patient of his.

A red-hot flash of emotion ran through Peter at the very moment that Stark threatened him. His head snapped up to look the doctor dead in the eye, and his breathing hitched despite his best efforts to remain calm. The worst part of it all was that his dick twitched from the low tone of the man’s voice, his threatening language, and the way he called himself Daddy. Peter couldn’t stand him. After a few more seconds of intense eye contact, he looked away and slumped back in his seat. Every part of him itched to get up and storm out, but he knew that if he did, he would never get that note.

Tony smirked a bit when he saw how his threat had worked and Peter slumped in his seat in defeat. ”That’s what I thought. And this confidentiality goes two ways, understood? I don’t tell and you don’t tell.” It was all such bullshit and Tony cringed a bit on the inside when he said it aloud, but he had to save his job.

Peter nodded, twisting in his seat uncomfortably. He was never planning to tell anyone about what happened anyway, but now he definitely couldn’t in case Stark really did go and tell his teachers about how he called the doctor ‘Daddy’, and how he begged to be spanked with a belt... Peter’s face screwed up at that. He hadn’t realised how not-in-control he was until Stark threatened him, and suddenly he was very nervous. “I-I-I won’t tell.” He said, still twisting.

”Good.” Tony said and picked up his pen again. ”Is there anything else we should add to the note?” The doctor asked, hoping to get back on track with the practical stuff.

“Uhm… No, I don’t think so.” Peter mumbled, his mind completely side-tracked by what had just happened. What if Stark decided to tell someone? Peter was already in enough shit as it was, but that would be adding a whole six different layers to it. He was the one who’d asked for it, for all of this, so it’s not like Stark would _really_  get in trouble for it.

”You sure?” Tony asked, giving Peter an extra change to add something. The boy was clearly still flustered. Had he gone too far?

Peter nodded without speaking. He was too afraid that if he said something now, the doctor would twist his words and attack him again. He was so stupid to think he could out-smart the man, not when he had decades of experience and Peter was just an 18 year old kid with his brain fucked six different ways to Sunday.

”All right, then. I will write the note after we are done here and you can have it during our next session. Does that sound okay?” Tony asked, getting up to put the notepad aside on his desk before returning to his seat.

“Yeah, that’s… that’s fine.” Peter nodded again. He didn’t watch the man get up, rather he stared down at the floor and listened to the doctor move around the room. He bunched his hoodie sleeves up around his hands and fiddled with the hems between his fingers as the room fell into an awkward silence.

Settling down in his chair again, Tony took a moment to study Peter in front of him. Three weeks had gone and Tony remembered when Peter had returned to the facility, skinny and grey-skinned from being incapable of taking care of himself. The boy had thrived under his care and Tony couldn’t help but feel proud of himself, but mostly Peter of course. He dreaded the idea of ending their relationship on such a bad note. ”What are you thinking about?” Tony asked, his voice much more gentle now.

Peter shrugged, still gazing intently at his sleeves and his hands which poked out from them. He had no idea what he was thinking about. Thoughts were whizzing through his mind with barely any time to register them, and it left Peter dazed. “Leaving? I dunno.” He said.

”What about leaving?” Tony asked, still keeping his voice gentle and tried to ignore the guilt that was beginning to weigh on his chest for threatening the sweet boy.

 “Seeing... seeing May again. And... and seeing Ned ‘n MJ. I miss them.” He mumbled. He missed his friends a _lot_ , and even though he couldn’t tell them what had been happening these last few weeks, Stark said he couldn’t, he was excited to hang out with them again. He knew that they had been asking after him, because May told him they had, but he wondered if they actually _missed_  him.

”Perhaps you could all go swimming together?” Tony suggested, trying his hardest to get the boy to cheer up.

Swimming. That was the last good point before this whole thing went to shit, and Peter cringed when he thought about it. “Yeah, maybe...” he said, but didn’t sound completely convinced. He knew how pathetic he looked and sounded right now, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The threat still loomed over his head, and he found himself actively trying not to lash out at the doctor in front of him.

"Why maybe?" Tony asked. They did not have much time left before May would take Peter with her, but Tony wanted to help Peter find his motivation to continue with swimming. The doctor was convinced that the weekly activity would help the boy's mental state.

 “I’unno. Depends if people are busy and stuff. Don’t really wanna go by myself.” He said, and it reminded him of a similar conversation they’d previously had. If he knew Stark well enough, he’d probably try and repeat what he said. Peter sat back in his seat, waiting to see whether Stark would do what he predicted.

”I see.” Tony nodded, slightly disappointed that Peter was not motivated to go swimming even after the successful trip to the pool. ”We’ve talked about this before, remember? And I said that I think it’s a good idea if you go swimming every week.”

“Well…” Peter huffed, squaring his shoulders and sitting up a little more in his chair. “Maybe… maybe I don’t wanna do that. Just cos _you_  think it’s a good idea, doesn’t immediately make it right, or correct, or even a good idea.” He said, his eyes on Stark’s face, watching him carefully. His anger was back again, and his gaze on the doctor was a dare for Stark to do something.

Tony raised his eyebrows a fraction and blinked before replying. ”I cannot force you to go to the pool, but I do think it would greatly improve your mental state to have something to do that’s fun and stress free. But, if you find it hard, then Strange can help you find some techniques that work for you.” The doctor explained, but knew he had said the wrong thing when Peter shot him a nasty look.

Peter scowled at the man when he mentioned Strange. Suddenly, things began to fall into place, and his face got darker and darker as he realised something. He now knew why he was being referred to Strange - _to minimise Stark’s guilt_. Having Peter around was probably something the doctor hated, as it reminded him of what they had done together and how unprofessional he had been. Palming him off to Strange meant that he could keep his job _and_  reduce the guilt he felt about... whatever they had done. “Typical.” The boy scoffed quietly, slumping in his chair.

”Typical?” Tony repeated to make sure he had heard right. ”What do you mean by that?” The doctor asked, although he knew that the boy’s sudden drop in mood was most likely due to the mention of Strange. Peter did not like him very much.

Peter took a deep breath before speaking. “I know why I’m being referred to Strange. It’s... It’s not to do with how you work here, or how he works there or whatever. It’s because... because having me around makes you feel _guilty_. It makes you feel guilty about what- what we’ve done. You know what w-we did is wrong, so you’re just trying to... trying to get rid of me before it b-blows up in your face.” He took another breath. “You try ‘n say it’s for my sake, but it’s not. Y-You’re a coward.” He said, watching the man carefully and noticing how his grip on the arm of his chair tightened slightly.

Tony gaped as he listened to Peter, feeling how the boy’s accusations made his blood boil. He stood up from his seat and pointed at the boy. ”That’s enough, Parker! All this I did to help you and this is what I get in return? You knew this was going to end when you signed that agreement!” The doctor argued with a raised voice, his fists clenching by his side. He could feel the fresh wounds on his knuckles beginning to bleed again underneath the bandage.

Peter balked when Stark began yelling at him. However, unlike last time he was so angry that it fueled him to also stand up, kicking his chair backwards to propel himself up. He was a couple of inches shorter than the man, but with the emotions he was feeling, it was like he was 10 feet tall. “‘Help’ me? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. You think that after all we’ve done, you can just shove me out that door with no remorse, and that counts as ‘help’?! Maybe I did know this was gonna end, but I didn’t realise it’d end with the emotional equivalent of an empty bed the next morning! You know, I can see why Strange is the best in his field. It’s not like he’s got much competition.”

Being accused of being lesser than Strange hurt the least of everything Peter had thrown at him, while everything else made it hard for him to breathe, which only made his racing mind foggier. ”I am doing this to help you! Don’t you remember I told you that you have attachment issues! _This_  is precisely your problem.” Tony said and gestured at Peter while pausing his ranting for a bit. He continued with a softer tone, but slightly out of breath. ”And you will only get worse if you stay under my care. You can’t get better here, I’ve done all I can...”

Peter’s heart ached and his face pulled a pained expression when Stark said that. “You... This doesn’t feel better. Do you not remember the last time I left? How that ended? Don’t you dare try and tell me that I will be better elsewhere, cos the truth is I’d just be more scared. You _know_  what happened to me, but you still insist on kicking me to the curb for the good of your own job status. You don’t get to tell me that this is my problem, when you’re the one making it worse.” He said, his own fists clenching by his sides and tears beginning to cloud his vision. He hated that he seemed to cry at every point of conflict, hated how embarrassing it was.

”And it probably won’t feel better for a while, but you just have to work through that rough bit.” Tony said with a wave of his hand. ”And it won’t end like last time if you put in the work and go see Strange.” The doctor argued, knowing fully well that Peter only showed up to one session after being referred there for the first time.

“N- You’re not getting it! You-“ Peter sighed, bringing a hand up to drag down his face. “You know, for a doctor you can be real fuckin’ stupid sometimes.” He grumbled, blinking back more tears. “If you know that this is my issue, why the hell are you trying to make it worse?” He said, his fists trembling by his sides and his shoulders heaving. “If anything, you’re just proving my point that I shouldn’t be opening up to the people I love, if they’re just gonna pull this shit!”

”I’m not making it worse, Peter. This pain that you’re feeling, it’s part of the healing and you have to learn to live with it.” Tony argued and raised his voice again to match Peter’s. ”This is what life is! You get to know people and then you lose then and you have to learn to deal with that pain!” The doctor said quickly before pausing to breathe. ”But, you’re not alone in this. Strange will help you, if you just let him do it.”

“Why, though?! _Why_  do I have to just accept that I’m gonna get the shit beaten out of me, with some stupid excuse of ‘Oh, that’s just life’?! No! Why don’t I get a say in how life works, huh? I just wanna be able to be with the people I care about without the fear that somehow, someday they’re just gonna disappear and I’m just gonna be left alone again!” Peter shouted, and his shouting was the final straw for angry tears to cascade down his face. He had to stop talking as he tried to catch his breath, and ducked his head so that Stark couldn’t see how badly he was tearing up.

Tony felt a lump grow in his throat when he listened to Peter. He was overwhelmed with the sudden need to protect the boy from all evil, which might be the Daddy in him, but the pain radiating from Tony’s knuckles reminded him of what he had to do. ”Peter-” But that did not mean he knew what to say.

Peter’s shoulders heaved as he gasped for breath, with his angry tears clinging to his eyelashes. He ran a hand through his hair and tugged, like it helped to ground him. When he heard Stark’s voice, he slowly looked up. “What?” He spat, his voice dripping anger and venom and upset and heartbreak.

”I-...” Tony began, but did not manage to say anything else. He stood dumbly and looked at Peter without a clue of what to say.

Peter watched the man for a moment, before rolling his eyes. “Great. Thanks for that, good talk.” He said, kicking his chair back with the heel of his foot to clear a space for him to leave. He hesitated for only a split second, and prayed that Stark didn’t see that hesitation before he turned around and left the office, slamming the door behind him again.

”Peter-” Tony tried again, but it had little effect as Peter stormed out of his office. With a grumble, the doctor moved to put the chair back in its place. Looking down at his hand, Tony saw that he had bled through his bandage. ”Fuck...” He sighed and went to get a fresh bandage and plan at least something to say for the last session with Peter in a few hours.


	46. 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one last meeting.

Peter had stormed back to his room where he remained for the next few hours. He only left for lunch, where he ate as quickly as possible and immediately retreated back to his room before any nurses could stop him and ask what was wrong. When it was time for his second session, he debated going at all, but then remembered that he still had to get that doctor’s note from Stark. In fact, he wasn’t sure that the man had even written it for him after their shouting match, but it was worth a go. He made his way to the office and knocked on the door, only to see the back of a woman’s head in the chair he usually sat in. “S-Sorry, should I come back la- _May_?!”

Well, that answered Tony’s question about whether Peter remembered him mentioning that his Aunt would join their last session. May sprang up from her seat and rushed over to embrace her nephew. ”Oh, baby!” She sighed in relief. Tony stood up from his own chair and let the two of them have a moment.

 “I-I-I forgot you were coming, oh my-“ Peter gladly went into her arms and buried his face into the crook of her neck. Pure emotion overtook him and he allowed himself to cry a little into her shoulder. He didn’t even care that Stark was probably watching them at the moment, he simply let himself be held. After a few moments they separated, and Peter hurriedly wiped his face down before either of the adults could see that he’d been crying.

”How are you, baby? Christ, it’s been so long. You seem better? Are you better?” May blurted out all in one breath while Tony pulled up another chair so that the two of them could sit together.

Peter laughed nervously. “Jeez, May, you’re gonna swallow your tongue, slow down! I’m fine, I’m fine.” He said, though he wasn’t sure how truthful that was. While he had gotten better, that progress had been threatened by the last 36 hours. He realised that another chair had been brought forward so he directed May to sit, while he sat in his usual chair.

May moved to sit next to Peter and immediately took her nephew’s hand in hers, squeezing it tight. ”So, Peter’s leaving.” Tony started, getting a notepad along with some other papers. The doctor glanced up at the boy and then at his aunt who seemed to be buzzing with excitement.

”It was about time. Right, baby?” May asked and turned to look at Peter expectantly.

Peter’s eyes widened at how tight his hand was being held by May, but didn’t say anything about it. He smiled though, glad that she was being so affectionate when he needed it. When May was so enthusiastic, though, he couldn’t help looking at her. “Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah!” He nodded, trying his best to emulate her excitement. “Three... three weeks is a long time.” He laughed nervously.

”Yeah, it’s quite a long time. Do you want to tell your aunt a bit about what you’ve been doing here?” Tony started and made a hand gesture towards May. The doctor did not add a threatening glare or anything, as he trusted the boy not to tell what they have been _really_  up to.

Peter looked over at the doctor, and they held eye contact for a second before he turned back to May. “Well, uh... me ‘n Doctor Stark have had therapy sessions every day, and... and I’ve been spending a lot of time with Loki, you remember me telling you about Loki? Oh, oh, they took me swimming a few days ago, that was fun.” He rambled, glancing over at the doctor every so often like he was silently asking for approval that what he was saying was right.

Tony nodded at each thing that Peter brought up, mostly for May who kept glancing over for confirmation. ”That sounds great.” May smiled widely. ”And Loki’s another patient here? Does he struggle with the same things as you?” She asked Peter.

 “Not quite, he’s here cos he has depression. He’s, uhm, been here a while, and he was kind of a dick when I first met him but then we got to know each other and he’s really nice. He’s helped me out a lot, but... I think if he knew that I was saying how nice he was in front of staff members, he’d never forgive me.” He laughed, looking over at Stark. “He likes to cause trouble.”

Tony smiled a bit, as Peter was not wrong about Loki, but he could not confirm not deny the claims in front on a non staff member. May seemed to be humoured and laughed. ”Has he been a good influence on you, though? If he causes trouble?” She joked, but both Tony and Peter knew that she was very much onto something.

Peter blinked a couple of times, but quickly recovered. “Don’t worry, he’s not brainwashing me into doing anything bad. He’s just... It’s not really “trouble”, it’s more mischief. He hasn’t got me doing anything bad, don’t worry May.” He lied through his teeth, thinking back to when they broke into Stark’s office and again when they flirted to get Stark purposefully angry. He could only hope that Stark kept his mouth shut as well.

”Naughty boys...” May joked and used her elbow to shove at Peter gently.

”You’ve grown quite close with Loki. Haven’t you, Peter?” Tony asked, pleased that he had control of the room again, unlike the last two times he’d met with Peter.

Peter yelped with laughter when May poked at him with an elbow, squirming on his chair to avoid it. “H-Huh? Yeah, yeah, we have.” He said once he had sat back on the chair properly. “Yeah, we’re... we’re really close. He’s the only patient here who’s kind of the same age as me so...”

”What? What’s the average age here?” May asked, directing the question to the doctor.

”I’d say 30 something. Older adults stay at the facility on the other side of town.” Tony answered briefly and May nodded before asking something else.

”So, how has he been, Doctor Stark?”

”Why don’t you tell yourself, Peter.” Tony said and gestured to the boy.

Uh oh. Peter caught Stark’s eye and for a split second he was scared that the man would rat him out. He gulped nervously and turned back to May. “I-I’ve been getting better. I mean, there were a couple of rough moments...” None of which were about anything other than Stark, he thought. “I just, uhm, I really missed you and sometimes that was hard to deal with. The nurses and Stark have really helped me though.” He said, not looking over in the doctor’s direction for fear he would say anything incriminating.

Tony nodded along to Peter’s summary of his stay, but May did not seem entirely convinced and looked over at him for confirmation. ”Yes, there have been some rough patches, but Peter has made great progress here. And gained some weight too, which we are very relieved to know.” Tony explained and looked over at Peter for him to add something.

 “Yeah, at my last medical exam...” Peter trailed off when he remembered the medical exam and what it had actually included. He felt hot under the collar for remembering how they’d kissed for the first time then and how Stark had towered over him while he was sat on the examination table. “At my last medical exam, I think Thor said I weighed 119 point something.” He said, snapping out of his daze when he realised both Stark and May were staring at him.

”That’s great, baby!” May cheered and moved to grasp Peter’s hand again, squeezing it tight.

”We did bloodwork too and everything looked good, but I still highly recommend that you continue to eat like you have here, Peter.” The doctor reminded. ”And I thought perhaps you aunt could help with that.” He added.

Peter grinned at his aunt. He appreciated how supportive she was being, maybe if she kept it up then the separation from Stark would be less painful. He nodded at Stark’s suggestion, but mainly kept his eyes on Aunt May. “Y-Yeah, I mean, May’s usually busy with shifts at work and stuff but I’ll try ‘n keep going with it and then she can help when she can.” He mumbled, not wanting May to feel like she had to now care for a toddler.

”Of course I’ll help.” May grinned. ”I’ll call you every hour to remind you to eat!” She promised, although Tony had a feeling she would not be able to keep it.

”And there’s something else that we’ve talked quite a lot about too, yeah? Something that you’d try to do every week?” Tony hinted at, hoping Peter would understand.

Peter hummed at May’s promise. Every _hour_? That sounded exhausting. He looked over at Stark when he spoke, and a light bulb clicked in his head. “Oh, right, yeah. St- Stark thought it’d be good if I tried to go swimming each week again. Remember how I used to before?” He said, looking over at May.

”Oh, yes! That sounds wonderful. Is that like a part of the therapy?” May asked and looked over at Tony.

”It can be therapeutic, yes, but it would be something Peter could do with his friends or on his own. Isn’t that right?” Tony asked Peter for confirmation.

 “Yeah, yeah. I could go to the Lido, remember the pool down on 23rd Avenue?” He said, turning to May. “I could just get the bus there, and maybe Ned could come along sometimes ‘n stuff.” He said, scratching the underside of his jaw. Secretly, he thought that it wouldn’t be as fun as his trip with Stark, Loki and Thor, but he didn’t say that out loud.

”Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that it’s really nice there.” May nodded with a smile. ”Oh, baby, it’s just like old times.” She sighed, meaning the time before Ben died.

Peter hummed, though he didn’t add to May’s comment about it being ‘the old times’. It made his heart ache just a little bit, but he ignored that.

”And we have also discussed school, haven’t we Peter?” Tony prompted and showed the note that he had now written.

 “Oh, yeah, school…” He suddenly remembered Loki’s comment about how he would have to re-do the school year, and it made him feel mildly sick. “Stark’s written me a note for school cos, you know, I’ve been here a while so my routine’s all messed up.”

”Ah, I see.” May said and sat up in her seat to take the note, but Tony handed it to Peter instead.

”I wrote what we agreed on, but is there anything you’d like to change?” The doctor asked the boy.

Peter noticed how Stark chose to hand the note to him and tried his best to ignore the little skip that his heart felt when their fingers touched. He peered down at it, seeing that it was written with all sorts of professional jargon that Peter couldn’t be bothered to translate. “No, it’s… it’s fine as it is, thanks.” He looked up at the doctor and smiled briefly before handing the note over to May so she could look at it.

”So... He’s making your teachers cut you some slack?” May asked with a chuckle after reading the note and handing it back to Peter.

”Yes, that’s basically what it is.” Tony agreed with a chuckle too before pulling up another note, which was a prescription. ”And here’s your medication for the next month, but Strange will prescribe you a refill or change it for you if you feel like you need that.” Tony said and handed the note to Peter.

Peter nodded, leaning forward to take the prescription note from the doctor. Looking it over, he saw that it was just more of the same, and he pursed his lips as he read it. He handed that over to May as well so she could read it, and then sat back in his chair, cracking his knuckles nervously. At the mention of Strange, memories of his argument with Stark mere hours ago came flooding back to him, but he squared his shoulders and ignored the underlying anger as best he could. He couldn’t get angry again, not in front of May.

”Strange, huh? That’s the same doctor from before, right? The one you didn’t want to see?” May asked Peter.

”I have referred your nephew to Doctor Strange, yes.” Tony confirmed before letting Peter explain.

“Y-Yeah, that’s him. You’ve met him, May, said you were gonna slap him.” He snorted, remembering her comment about his high cheekbones. “But, uhm, yeah. Stark’s referred me cos…” _Because of guilt. Because he’s a coward. Because he doesn’t want to see you anymore_. “because he works _here_ , in the facility, so I could only see him if I was still here. Strange has his own… own practice so I can see him whenever, you know?” He explained, pointedly not looking at Stark as he spoke.

”Oh, right, I did.” May chuckled, blushing a little at the revelation in front of the doctor. ”I see, I see. And how often are you gonna see him?” May asked Peter. Tony felt something tighten in his gut when he remembered what he and the boy had been arguing about earlier.

“Well, the last time I tried to see him, he suggested once every couple of days, so I guess probably something similar? I dunno, I think I’ll have to talk to him about it. Right, Stark?” He said, glancing at the man quickly but with enough venom for him to notice.

”Yeah, you will have to agree on that with Strange.” Tony confirmed and May nodded along, looking pleased.

”That’s good, that’s good. I’m glad to hear you’ll have someone to talk to.” May smiled.

 _I thought I already did_ , Peter thought bitterly. He swallowed that bitterness down though and smiled back at his aunt, nodding along obligingly. “When can I, uhm, when can I go back to school?” He asked his aunt nervously. “It’s just that, you know, I’ve missed a lot of work, and I’ve really missed my friends, so…”

”Oh, baby... We can talk more about that later, yeah?” May suggested, as she didn’t want to tell Peter about how he would have to take a year over again. ”Is there anything else I need to know before I take my nephew home?” May asked Tony, changing the subject from school entirely.

”No, I don’t have much else to say. What are you thinking about, Peter?” Tony asked.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows momentarily at May’s deflection of his question, then at the change of subject, but didn’t say anything. When Stark asked him what he was thinking, he had a _lot_  of thoughts running through his mind. However, none of them really made much sense, and he couldn’t pick them out. “I’m just… thinking about goin’ home.” He said truthfully, looking over at May with a soft smile on his face.

”Hmm, no wonder.” Tony chuckled. ”Then, I guess I should let you get home then?” He asked with a smile and May nodded, squeezing Peter’s hand in her again.

”I promised you a big movie night with pizza, didn’t I?” May asked with a grin as she was very excited to bring her beloved nephew home.

Peter blinked at Stark a couple of times, then looked over at May. “Oh, crap, yeah! You did! But I call dibs on choosing the movie, we aren’t watching Legally Blonde _again_...” He said, finding that it was easy to emulate his aunt’s grin. He hadn’t anticipated how excited she would be, and some of the excitement rubbed off on him.

Tony watched with a little smile as May and Peter debated some movies. _Peter would be okay_ , Tony thought. _The boy’s got May, his friends and Strange, but most importantly himself. If these last few days had proved anything, then it’s that Peter’s a fighter._

Peter and May continued to talk about movies for a few more seconds, as if Stark wasn’t even in the room, but then they remembered where they were and both turned to look at the Doctor. “If that’s it, then, I... I guess we should go?” Peter said. May was already halfway up off her chair and Peter followed suit, rising slowly but hesitantly in case Stark had anything else to say.

”Ms Parker? Could I have a moment with Peter?“ Tony asked, rising from his own seat. May hesitated at first and looked at Peter.

”Whatever you have to say to Peter, you can say to me. Right, baby?” May asked, placing both hands on Peter’s shoulders and squeezing lovingly.

Peter froze when Stark asked for a moment with him, and he swiveled where he stood to face him. He and May had already gotten out of their seats and were heading for the door, but both paused when Stark spoke. “Uhm…” Peter looked at Stark, then at his aunt. “I dunno, May, it’s… it might be stuff about confidentiality. It’s probably not anything interesting, you don’t need to stick around for it.” He said, wondering what the hell Stark would need him for at this very moment. “We can just meet you outside?”

”Peter and I will be right out. You can head to the lobby where one of the nurses have some paperwork for you to sign.” Tony explained with a smile and opened his office door for May.

”Okay, I’ll see you in a jiffy.” May said and waved Peter a little goodbye before heading out of the office. Tony closed the door after her before facing Peter.

”So, this is it.” He said a little awkwardly.

Peter gulped as he watched May leave. He very suddenly regretted asking her to leave when he saw how Stark was essentially blocking the door, which stopped him from leaving. “Uh, yeah. It was… it was gonna end at some point. Don’t worry, I-I won’t say anything. Confidentiality’s important and all.” He said, and he couldn’t resist sounding a little bitter by the end sentence.

”I know, I know. I’m not worried about you saying anything.” Tony explained, growing a little flustered. Why didn’t Peter have anything to say to him? After everything? ”Isn’t there... anything you’d like to say?” The doctor suggested with a shrug of his shoulders, knitting his brows together in a look of disbelief.

Peter gazed up at the man. He had plenty to say, he knew he did, but after their argument a few hours ago he wasn’t sure that he wanted to say any of it after all. “To you? I think I’ve said enough, especially now I know where your priorities lie.” He said, his face set and his hands flexing down by his sides. “Always the professional, aren’t you, Stark?”

”Fuck professionalism...” Tony grumbled and grabbed the boy by the collar of his hoodie, swinging him around and pushing him up against the door. Before Peter could protest, Tony kissed him hungrily.

The noise Peter made when Stark grabbed him was too high for human ears to register. He let out a soft grunt when his back hit the door, and he barely had time to recover before Stark was draping himself over Peter and kissing him. Peter whimpered, his body sagging as he gave into the kiss and let the man dominate his mouth. His hands roamed up and down the doctor’s chest, gripping onto his shirt to keep him as close as humanly possible. His eyes fluttered shut as he gave in, and it felt like time itself had slowed down for them.

Peter’s small noises fueled something deep in his core and Tony growled in the back of his throat. He took complete charge of the kiss by guiding Peter’s head and tilting it for a deeper kiss. After a moment, they had to pull back for breath and their eyes met.

When he felt Stark pulling back, he opened his eyes to see the man staring hungrily at him. His own eyes were wide and imploring, and his lips parted as he panted for air. “Wh-What did you say about ‘never again’?” He said, though his voice had the slightest hint of sadness in it. He knew that they had to leave, but this just made it a lot messier.

”I- I can’t help myself...” The doctor said truthfully as his heart ached in his chest at hearing Peter’s sad tone. ”You are- irresistible, Peter.” Tony breathed out before kissing Peter again, pressing him up against the door harder because being close wasn’t close enough. He wanted to drown in Peter’s warm honey brown eyes.

Peter never thought in a million years that he’d ever be called that by someone, let alone by arguably the hottest man he’d ever met. He whined hopelessly as Stark pressed him further against the door, and his eyes widened just a little when he felt arousal flooding his system. He gladly let the man kiss him again, relishing in the way that Stark seemed to take charge like it was second nature and Peter could just allow himself to let go. “I-I… Daddy… Please…” He had no idea what he was begging for.

Be careful with assumptions, that’s what Tony had been trained to do in therapy, because technically one can never truly understand what another person is going through and making claims that one does is dangerous for a therapist. However, Tony felt like Peter and he were one, pressing against the door and breathing the same air through their noses. ”I know, baby boy, I know...” He claimed and meant it.

Peter slumped against the door, letting the back of his head gently rest against the wood as he gazed up at the doctor. “I…” What was he even going to say? Looking at the man made his brain short circuit, and he was left looking hopelessly up into the doctor’s tea-coloured eyes. “I d-don’t ever wanna stop. But… But I know I have to.”

”Yeah, yeah. We have to end this.” Tony agreed, pressing his forehead against Peter's as they still tried to catch their breaths. ”I-I don't want you to go, but you have to. You'll just get worse if you stay.” The doctor said to the boy, but also to convince himself to leave his heavenly embrace.

Peter sniffed, his hands sliding up to cup the man’s face. “I know. I-I-I’m so sorry, for everything. I- I shouldn’t have yelled at you, or tried to make you jealous, or any of that. It’s… You need your job, and I need to… to get better. I’m so sorry for what I put you through.” He rambled, not able to take his eyes off of the man.

Tony lifted his bandaged hand to wrap around Peter’s and ignored the pain when he curled his fingers to hold the boy’s soft hand in his own. One last time. ”Peter, you have nothing to apologise for. I-I took this too far, let it get out of hand. I’m to blame and _I’m_  sorry.” Tony explained, looking into Peter’s eyes as he did, trying to memorise the spots of yellow in his irises.

Peter couldn’t help snorting at that, shoving the man lightly against his shoulder. “We’re just going in circles here, pervert.” He said, the epithet slipping out by accident. He hadn’t realised it had kind of become a nickname during their time together. He took comfort in how his hand seemed to get dwarfed in Stark’s, but when he looked down he saw the bandages and his brow furrowed. “Are you ever gonna tell me how you _actually_  hurt your hand?”

Tony snorted softly at the word Peter called him by and did not bother arguing about it. At the question about his hand, Tony free it from Peter’s grasp before letting it fall to his side. ”Like I said, burnt it on the stove.” The doctor said with a chuckle before sighing when he looked up at Peter again. ”You should go...” He said ever so softly.

Peter laughed as well, looking down at the bandage and the tiny blots of blood that were welling up near the man’s knuckles. When he looked up again, he saw that Stark was gazing at him with a soft expression. Peter hesitated, but then leaned forward to kiss the man one last time. This kiss was unlike any they’d ever had before, it was soft and sweet and endearing and _loving_ , but it was over as soon as it began and Peter slid under the man’s arm so that he could open the door and be let out.

As soon as Peter pulled back from the kiss, Tony missed him, but he had to let the boy go, or things could end very badly for them both.


	47. 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter says his goodbyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE FIC!!!
> 
> we have more chapters coming, u got demn fools!!! but thank you for all the super nice comments over the last couple of chapters, we hope it was angsty enough for you x

For once, Tony let Peter lead the way through the facility as they made their way to the lobby where May was waiting along with Steve, Bucky and Thor. Loki peeked out from behind Thor and came up to Peter with a shy, but sad smile.

Peter took his time walking, gazing around the corridors with a weird emotion settled deep in his chest. He didn’t say anything to Stark as they walked, but both seemed content regardless. When they entered the lobby, Peter smiled over at May, but his smile was replaced with a look of surprise when Loki appeared from behind Thor’s frame. “Lo…!” He said, also approaching the boy. He had no idea whether he’d let Peter hug him, so for now he stood just within arms reach. “I didn’t think you’d… didn’t think you’d come.”

”Yeah! I mean- Thor told me you’d be leaving and asked if I wanted to say goodbye, so...” Loki explained as he became a little flustered. Tony gave him an encouraging smile and nod towards Peter from where he was stood behind the boy. ”I’ll miss you.” Loki admitted and moved to wrap his arms around Peter’s neck.

It never really hit Peter just how much he cared about Loki. But now, as he watched the boy ramble and become flustered at his own explanation, the feelings of affection in his chest were almost bursting out of him, and he had to blink a couple of times to get rid of some threatening tears that were budding. He was shocked that the boy would hug him in front of the nurses, but he didn’t let that show on his face and immediately moved to hug the boy back. “I’ll miss you too, Lo. Wait, hold on!” He said, pulling back from the hug to go into his backpack which was by May’s side. “You… You always found them easy but I thought it’d be cool for you to have, so…” He handed his rubix cube to the boy, also becoming a little flustered.

”I-” Loki stammered as he was offered the gift. He took it into his hands and studied it, almost as he had never seen a rubix cube before. That was how taken aback he was. ”But, you already gave me the comics...” Loki said, blushing at having everyones’ eyes on him.

Peter shrugged. “Yeah, and what did you give me while I was here? Friendship, support, all sorts of good stuff. You really helped me out here, greaseball, the rubix cube is the least I could do.” He could see the blush creeping up the boy’s cheeks, and it took every ounce of willpower not to tease him about it in front of Thor. “You’re gonna be fine, you hear me?”

Loki clutched the rubix cube in his hands as he listened to Peter’s kind words. He glanced up shyly and smiled. ”I- yeah, I will. Then, maybe we can go swimming together?” The boy suggested. Tony and all the nurses tried their hardest not to cry at the gentle scene in front of them. They could not wait to tell Banner about Loki and the progress he had made.

Peter’s face split into a wide grin at that. Loki very rarely took confidence in his own mental health, and Peter knew that, so the offer to go swimming was enough to nearly make him sob. At the back of his mind, he was mildly aware that everybody was watching them, but for the time being he could only look at Loki. “Yeah. And we can… we can go on the slides, and that big inflatable boat? It’ll be great.” He nodded, but found himself becoming emotional again and threw himself forward to hug the boy once more.

Loki felt his throat beginning to close up and decided it was best not to speak and simply hugged Peter back. After a moment, they pulled back and shared a fond smile before Loki went to stand by Thor. ”You two are gonna make me cry!” Steve said with a sniffle and came forward to hug Peter as well.

”Stevie’s a big, old softie!” Bucky laughed.

Peter’s grin spread across his entire face at the boy, and he wished that the hug had lasted longer than it did when Loki stepped away and went to stand by Thor. Suddenly, Peter remembered that the other nurses were here too, and he barely had time to react before he was being swept up into Steve’s arms. “J-Jeez, Stevie! You’re gonna cr-crush me!” He laughed, nuzzling his face against the man’s shoulder.

Steve laughed before letting Peter go with a pat to the boy’s head. ”It was wonderful to get to know you, bud, but I hope I never have to see you again.” The nurse grinned.

”It’s sort of a tradition for us to tell patients that when they leave.” Bucky explained and opened his arms for a hug too.

Peter blinked his eyes in shock at Steve’s sentiment, but then burst into giggles. He turned to look at Bucky, who also had his arms open, and went into them for a hug. Bucky’s hug wasn’t quite as bear-like, but it was soft and Peter found himself smiling into the man’s shoulder. “I’ll miss you guys, Tweedledum ‘n Tweedledee.” He said, teasing the nurses like he always did.

”Oh, I hate those nicknames.” Steve groaned out with a chuckle.

”But, you’ll miss them once he’s gone.” Bucky said and let Peter go so that Thor could also get a hug.

”Best of luck, bud. It was great to get to know you.” Thor said with a smile.

Peter smiled sweetly at Rogers when he complained, a simple shrug of his shoulders accompanying his grin. He turned to give Thor a hug, and wheezed at how tightly the man squeezed him. “God! Thunder Thighs needs to chill, he’s gonna squeeze my lungs out!” He said, laughing but patting the man on the back. When he was let go, he pretended to stumble back and gasp for breath, grinning at the nurse.

Everyone laughed at Peter’s slightly dramatic scene before May came over to him with the bag on her shoulder. ”Shall we get going, baby? I’m hungry for some pizza.” She smiled widely.

“Yeah, yeah… Actually, gimme one second?” He asked, before heading over to the receptionist’s desk. “Hey, can I borrow a pen and some paper please?” He asked politely to the receptionist, who nodded and handed him the items. He quickly scribbled something down on the paper and tore it from the pad, then handed the pen and pad back with a smile. He headed back over to where the group was standing and handed the note to Loki. “It’s, uhm, my phone number. In case you get phone privileges and… and can’t think of who you want to call.” He smiled. He knew that Loki’s relationship with his father was distant, and he never seemed happy when it was phone time, so Peter wanted to give him an option of someone to call.

Loki was taken aback, again, but even more so than with the rubix cube and could only nod at Peter. But, he had a genuine and soft smile on his face as he accepted the little note. Standing back a little from the whole goodbye scene, Tony wondered if Peter would give him a hug too, but it seemed so underwhelming now after everything they had done. He supposed they had already said goodbye in his office, so he let Peter choose whether he wanted another goodbye or not.

Peter liked seeing that pleasantly surprised look on Loki’s face, and how it turned into a soft smile when the boy took the note from him. Finally, he turned to look at Stark, who was standing a bit further back than everyone else. For a moment, time itself seemed to stop as they looked at each other, and Peter realised with a skip of his heartbeat that in that moment, he only had eyes for Stark. He ever so slowly opened his arms, indicating to the man that he wanted a hug, even though he knew they’d technically had a “goodbye” makeout session before they came into the lobby.

Tony was relieved to see that Peter was not going to shy away from another goodbye and came over to hug him tightly. ”Please, go and see Strange, yeah? He will help you, just like I have done.” The doctor said quietly as he held the boy.

Peter smiled when Stark hugged him tightly. Unlike the hugs from the nurses, he didn’t make a joke about how tight the man was squeezing him. If anything, he loved it, loved how it almost seemed possessive in front of the nurses and Loki, like Stark was showing who Peter belonged to in a simple hug. “I’ll try.” He said, just as quietly. “But nobody compares to you, Daddy.” He said, low enough for only Stark to hear, and squeezed him one more time before letting go entirely and looking over at May.

Tony was very much tempted to show everyone who Peter belonged to when he uttered that title quietly, but he kept himself in check. ”Good luck, Peter, and I hope I never see you again.” Tony chuckled before taking a step back.

”That sounds so mean!” May laughed before draping an arm across Peter’s shoulders. ”Thank you all so much for helping my nephew.” She said with a smile at all the staff members. Tony, Thor, Steve and Bucky all returned the smile and some bowed their head a little.

Peter laughed at the sentiment as well, even despite the shot of pain that went through his heart at the mere thought of never seeing Stark again. He stepped closer to May when she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and smiled timidly at the men watching him. “Y-Yeah, uhm... Th-Thank you so much, ‘m... ‘m a lot better now and I-I couldn’t have done it without you, so...” He said nervously, trying his best to look at all of the adults even though he desperately wanted to just look at Stark.

”It’s been great to have you here, bud.” Bucky smiled. ”Yeah, we’ll miss you.” Steve agreed and pulled a sad face, causing Bucky to elbow him in his ribs.

”You’re very welcome, Peter.” Tony said, stepping forward to speak for all the staff members, thankful to hear that his own voice was not shaky like he felt on the inside now that Peter was leaving for real. Loki waved shyly at Peter before heading off, as he found the goodbye to be a bit too much, but clutched the little note with Peter’s phone number to his chest along with the rubix cube.

Peter giggled at how Steve and Bucky interacted with one another. They really were like an old married couple, and Peter felt a slight twinge of regret that he’d ever been rude to them in the first place. He waved to Loki as well, his heart aching as he watched the boy turn the corner and disappear with Thor. Finally, he looked up at the doctor with his bottom lip between his teeth. For a split second he got the overwhelming urge to barrel back into Stark’s arms and never let go, but he stayed in place and simply rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He turned to May, who was watching him fondly. “Sh-Should we go?”

”Yeah, lets go home.” May said softly and kissed Peter’s temple before leading the way to the door. Tony took half a step to follow Peter, but stopped himself and thought better of it. He had to go, he would only get worse if he stayed, Tony tried telling himself as he watched Peter exit the building. His heart felt heavy in his chest, like it was about to fall out.

”He’s a good kid.” Steve said quietly to Bucky next to him.

Tony nodded in agreement as he watched Peter closely, trying to memorise everything about him.

Peter followed his aunt dutifully out of the lobby. He hated this, hated having to turn his back on his first love like this. That’s what Stark was, though, wasn’t it? The thought of Stark being his first love made his heart soar and ache in equal measures, and he couldn’t resist looking over his shoulder one last time at the man before the doors shut. He saw how wide Stark’s eyes were, how full of emotion they were, but he knew he couldn’t turn back as he was led to the car by his aunt.

”Shall we pick up pizza right away? You must be starving after eating nothing but yucky hospital food for three weeks.” May said with a chuckle as she got into the drivers seat.

Peter nodded. “I mean, the food wasn’t _that_  bad, but pizza’s definitely better.” He laughed, sliding into the passengers seat after he had put his bag in the trunk of the car. He rested his elbow on the car door and placed his chin in the palm of his hand as May turned the engine on and began to drive out of the parking lot, and he couldn’t help gaze at the entrance of the facility like he was trying to see if Stark was still in there. He kept his eyes on it until it disappeared in the rear view mirror, and Peter had no choice but to look out onto the road ahead.


	48. 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> troubles start at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapters for a while, but it all pays off in the end x

Peter spent the weekend with May, lounging about on the couch and watching terrible movies with her. She had even taken him to the comic book store after he explained that he’d given a couple of his comics to Loki. He was in a good mood, even despite the underlying feeling of heartbreak that came with missing Stark. He tried his best to ignore that, though. On Sunday afternoon, he began to pack his backpack for school tomorrow, searching around the room for his pencil case and textbooks that he would need for the next day.

Having Peter back home was a huge relief to May. She felt useful and helpful by checking up on him, cooking for him and just sitting with him all weekend. They had a good time and May hoped it would have lasted a bit longer before she saw Peter packing for school. ”What you doing, baby?” She asked as she leaned against the door-frame to her nephew’s room.

Peter looked up at the voice by the door-frame and smiled easily at his aunt. “Hey, I’m just getting my stuff ready for school tomorrow.” He said, continuing to move around the room as he spoke. “You haven’t seen my APUSH textbook, have you? I could’ve sworn I left it on my desk, but I can’t remember...” he said, looking around his room for the mentioned textbook.

”Peter, uhm- about school.” May started. ”I don’t think you should go back just yet.” She argued, but did not bring up the letter that she had received that said Peter would have to take a year over again just yet.

Peter faltered his movements around his room and stood up properly to face his aunt. “Why? I’m... I’m better now, can’t I give it a try? I’ve got that note from Stark, it’ll be easier to catch up on the work I’ve missed with it.” He said, his hand clutching onto his desk chair tightly. “Besides, I haven’t seen Ned and MJ yet, and... and I wanna see them at school tomorrow.”

”But, baby, I don’t think you’re well enough to go just yet. You just got home two days ago?” May argued and took a few steps closer to her nephew. ”How about a week or two at home and then we can arrange for a meeting with your principal, yeah?” She suggested with a tight smile.

 “But May, I _wanna_  go back! I’m fine now, and my friends will be there to help, it’s not like I’m gonna be there by myself! Isn’t this just another step towards getting better, didn’t you _want_  me to get better?” He asked, his hand trembling slightly as he saw the tight-lipped smile on his aunt’s face.

”Of course I do, baby!” May said quickly. ”And you will get better, but I just don’t know if going back so soon will be worth it. What if it stresses you out and makes you worse?” She argued, although she knew that Peter had always been quite good at handling school. Still, it would be nicer if Peter thought it was his idea not to go to school, rather than break the news about him having to go a year over again.

Peter shook his head. “It won’t, May. Stark wrote me that note, remember, explaining what happened? It’s gonna make the teachers cut me some slack, I’m sure I’ll be alright! I just need to catch up with what I missed, that’s all.” He said, turning back to continue to look for his textbook.

May shook her head and tried another strategy. ”How about you take the rest of the year off? Focus on the swimming , like Stark said, and relaxing and then you can take the year again in autumn?” She suggested, trying to catch Peter’s eyes while he continued to search through his room.

“But then I’d have to start the year again, and that’s just a waste of time between now and then...” he said, still searching. “Aha! Got it.” He said, pulling the book out from under a pile of other books and a few items of laundry. He flipped through it, remembering learning about the course to begin with, and then headed to his bag to shove it in. “May, I appreciate your help, I really do, but... I wanna go back to school, and it’s really not that big of a deal.”

”But, baby... That’s the thing. It is a big deal.” May sighed, seeing that she had no option but to tell Peter. She couldn’t have him waltzing into school like nothing the next day. ”I got a letter while you were gone.”

 “A letter? What letter?” Peter stood up properly from where he was hunched over, trying to shove his textbook into his already overcrowded backpack. “Was it from the facility, or...?” He asked, but judging by her face it wasn’t going to be a good letter.

”It was from school.” May said with a gentle, but sad tone. ”It was to you, but considering you weren’t here, I- uhm opened it and well... It said that due to all your absence, you won’t pass this year, so you’ll have to take it again.” She finally explained, over two weeks after reading the letter.

Peter dropped his bag. It made a loud “thud” noise, but he didn’t care. “I-I… I have to re-take the year?” He said, his hands now shaking. Loki was right, he had missed too much. “Wh- Why can’t I- Wha-“ He couldn’t speak, and his breathing hitched in his chest, like there was a blockage in his lungs. Peter swallowed thickly. “Wh-When did you get this letter?” He asked, watching May carefully.

May wanted to lie, to maintain the little moment of happiness that they finally had together after such a long time, but the thunderous look on Peter’s face made her tell the truth. ”A few days after I brought you to the facility.” She said quietly, but did not shy away from eye contact and looked at her nephew.

Peter’s stomach dropped at that. “So… So you knew, this whole time.” He said slowly, like he was trying to convince himself that what he was saying was true. “You knew, b-but you never told me.” His shoulders heaved as he breathed heavily, not taking his eyes off of his aunt. “You… You _saw_  me. I _called_  you, and… and you could’ve told me then. But you didn’t. You hid it from me.” He said, and suddenly he felt incredibly ill.

”Peter-” May started when she saw how worked up her nephew got all of a sudden. ”I-I didn’t want to upset you, baby. I knew you had a lot on your mind at the facility and all and I didn’t want to stress you out? Like, distract you from your recovery.” She explained, waving her hands in the air as she did.

“I-I’m not _fragile_ , May! I can handle bad news, y-y-you don’t have to wear _kid gloves_  around me or something, I can handle things myself!” He cried, almost in disbelief. “And besides, it would’ve been way better to tell me at the facility! I-If I _did_ get stressed by it, then I would’ve had people there to help me!” His legs were now shaking to the point where he had to sit in his desk chair, and leaned forward to grip his hair. “Y-You hid it from me the _whole time_ , I can’t believe you!”

”Baby, I only did it to protect you. God, I’m sorry, Petey.” May said gently, crouching down in front of Peter where he was sat in the chair. ”But, this is a good thing. You can rest and just focus on getting better before you return to school again. This doesn’t have to be that bad.” She explained, forcing a positive spin on the situation as well as a smile on her face.

“No! A-All I’m gonna be thinking about for months is… is how much of an _idiot_  I am for having to retake the year! N-No good colleges take shitty high school retakes, May, none of them!” He hiccupped, rubbing at his face with the palm of his hand. He leaned back to that he was sat in the chair correctly, but kept a hand over his eyes so he didn’t look at his aunt. “Can I have a moment alone, please?”

May wanted to argue, as she usually could get Peter to see the positive in most things, but he seemed different now. May wondered whether that was due to the therapy he had gone through or if he was just on edge from returning home. ”Of course, baby. Just come talk to me when you feel like it, yeah? We’ll work this out together.” She promised, but did rise up from her crouched down position yet.

Peter made a general noise of acknowledgement in response to May, and waited for her to leave before he moved. Once the bedroom door clicked shut behind her, he rose from his chair and moved over to his bed, lying on it with silent tears running down his face. What was he going to do? He had never been in a position like this before, and he had no idea how to deal with it. _Stark would know…_  He looked over at his phone and scrolled through the recent calls to find the facility’s phone number, his thumb hovering over the call button. However, he decided against it and threw his phone to the side. Like Stark said, he has to get better without him.


	49. 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter reunites with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay we didnt update yesterday bc rafni's busy with studying and i'm not in a good place rn sorry abt that lads

The evening and following morning came and went fairly awkwardly. Once he had calmed down, Peter had left his room and he and his aunt simply sat together and watched more terrible TV. They didn’t discuss what they had argued about in Peter’s room, but maybe that was for the best. Monday morning rolled around and Peter didn’t go into school... at first. He waited for May to leave for work, and then sent a quick text to Ned telling him to meet him by the basketball court, and to bring MJ. He got his usual train to school, although at 11:30, and then headed around the back of the school to where the outside basketball court was. There, he sat and waited.

Ned had nearly dropped his phone when he had gotten a text from Peter and his voice became very high pitched with excitement when he told MJ about it. As soon as class was over, the two high schoolers sprinted to the back of the building and MJ practically kicked down the door leaving to the basketball court. They both searched for Peter with their eyes until they spotted him by the benches.

Peter was getting a little bored of waiting, scuffing the ground with the toe of his sneakers as he waited for Ned and MJ to show up. He wondered if Ned had even gotten the text at all, but then he heard someone calling his name and he looked up. Feelings of pure joy and _relief_  flooded his system when he saw his two friends, and he jumped up off the bench to greet them. “Guys! Holy shit!” He laughed, heading over with his arms spread wide open.

MJ dashed over to Peter to embrace him tightly. ”You asshole!” She laughed brightly with tears in the corner of her eyes. If either of her friends pointed out her excitement, which was very much out of character, she would deny it all, but for now she let all her emotions show and held Peter tight.

Peter laughed raucously as MJ pulled him into a hug. He stumbled back a step at the strength of which she barrelled into him. “Look who’s talkin’, dickhead!” He said excitedly, before he was being tugged into Ned’s arms and hugged even tighter.

”My turn, step aside, witch!” Ned laughed and moved to embrace Peter himself. ”Dude, you-you’re like a ghost! Returned from the dead!”

 “Hah, yeah man! They sent me back, somethin’ about “being too annoying for Hell”.” Peter said, his tongue poking out between his teeth and his mouth stretched in a cheeky grin. “Fuck, I’ve missed you guys.”

”I’ll fight you on that because we’ve missed you more.” MJ said with a wide grin when Ned finally pulled back and let Peter breathe.

”What the fuck did they do to you? You look great! Oh, do a twirl!” Ned joked and used his finger and spun it around.

Peter snorted and batted Ned’s hand away from him. “They didn’t _do_ anything to me, dude. I’ve just gained weight, they actually forced me to eat three meals a day. Well, not _forced_ forced, but like it was a set schedule ‘n shit. But oh my _God_ was it boring in there. I made, like, _one_ friend but when I wasn’t hanging out with him I was bored outta my _mind_.”

”Was it like in movies? Where you like stabbed in the thigh with needles and strapped down to beds?” Ned blurted out before he could think. MJ elbowed him and made him fall quiet. ”Sorry, man, forget all that. Just- got too excited, I guess.” Ned said and smiled shyly at Peter.

”So, what did you do there then? Besides be bored?” MJ asked and lead the way to the benches so they could all sit and talk.

Peter laughed at how over-excited Ned got, and MJ’s sensible reaction. As they walked over to the benches, he explained. “Nah, nothing like the movies. Well, I mean... I did have to have an IV needle in my hand at the beginning, that was gross. I wasn’t strapped to the bed, but I couldn’t leave it unless the IV bag was attached to, like, a moveable pole. That was only for a couple of days, though, cos then I was well enough to have my own room and stuff.” He said, sitting on the bench in a lotus position. “What did I do there? Uh...” _Make out with my criminally attractive Doctor, MJ, why do you ask?_  “I had therapy sessions twice a day. And then I would read books, comics, occasionally hang out with Loki. Oh, at one point they took us swimming.”

Both MJ and Ned cringed and shuddered at the mention of needles. ”What was therapy like? Did you all sit in a ring and talk or?” Ned asked, still very much curious to hear as much as possible from Peter about his stay at a mental facility. He knew that his friend had gone through some rough things in his life and struggled mentally, but never like this where he needed to be locked away from everyone. MJ pondered on some of the same, but found herself to be very much content just gazing at Peter as he talked.

Peter shook his head at that. “Nah, it was mostly one-to-one sessions. I mean, I did a couple with Loki because they knew that we worked well together, so we did that occasionally, but mostly it was just me and Stark. That was my therapist’s name, Doctor Stark.” He said, and the dormant butterflies in his stomach took flight once more at the mention of the man’s name.

”Wait, _the_ Doctor Stark?” MJ repeated.

”I told you! Dumbass, thought I was lying! He did see Stark!” Ned said and shoved at MJ’s shoulder, but not with much force.

”The one who did the research that you showed me? And the papers you sent me, but I didn’t read?” MJ asked and Ned nodded eagerly, but then pulled an offended face when she hadn’t read it.

”Why didn’t you read it?”

”I don’t know! Calling people Daddy and Mommy is pushing a bit too far for me.” MJ whined until a though occured to her. ”Did you... do _that_ with Stark?”

“How does _everyone_  know that Stark’s famous apart from me? He never even mentioned he was well-known when I was with him!” Peter cried, throwing his hands up to the sky but laughing at his friend’s petty squabble. When MJ mentioned Stark’s research into age regression, Peter froze, but quickly brushed it off with a nervous chuckle. “Nah, nah, nah, that’s _too_  weird. I mean, we did try some of that age regression stuff cos like, apparently it helps you relax and then if you do it properly you’re more likely to talk about stuff, but… I never went _that_  far, Christ, that’s weird.” He said, hoping to whatever existed in the heavens that his friends would believe him.

”Yeah, yeah! It’s like really effective according to him and Strange.” Ned said, waving his hands as he spoke.

”And they’re not that famous, believe me.” MJ said to Peter and placed a hand on his shoulder. ”They aren’t like Hollywood famous, but their names are known in the psychiatric field.” She added and Ned nodded along.

”So, you didn’t do the age regression with him?” Ned asked, almost a little disappointed.

“Oh…” Peter nodded slowly, almost impressed. On one hand, he would’ve expected Stark to maybe mention that at some point while they knew each other, maybe to make himself seem better than Strange, but… then again, maybe not. “No, no, I did. That’s what I was saying, I did do it but… I didn’t, uhm, didn’t call him… that.” He said, not even daring to say the word in front of his friends.

”Right, right.” MJ nodded and so did Ned. ”So, what did you actually do then? In therapy? Because- you look better, Peter.” MJ said with a soft smile.

”It’s so weird how just talking to someone can do that you know.” Ned said with a shake of his head.

“Jeez, who took Ned and MJ and left me with these softies?” Peter laughed, shoving at their shoulders playfully. “I mean, therapy’s just talking. We talked about everything. It took me a while to actually, like… open up to him, but… I told him about… about Ben, ‘n my parents ‘n stuff.” He scratched at his neck, then took a breath before continuing. “He just kinda helped me find more confidence in myself. I mean, it wasn’t easy, we had a bunch of arguments and yelling matches and… other stuff, but it all worked out.”

MJ and Ned nodded while Peter explained. Their faces were empathetic and their eyes soft, because they knew that Peter was very touchy about his family. They both smiled gently at hearing that their friend was feeling better. ”That’s great, man. That’s like- that’s everything.” Ned said, a little lost for words and MJ nodded in agreement.

Peter was so glad he had his friends here with him. At that very moment, he felt nothing but pure love for them both, and he returned the soft smile very easily. “Yeah…” The three of them sat in a companionable silence before Peter spoke up again. “So, did anything interesting happen while I was gone? Did _Flash_  take my place in the decathlon team?” He said, rolling his eyes at the mention of Flash’s name.

”I’ve been keeping him away.” MJ said with a wink. ”He’s pissy and has been talking shit, like always, but nothing that interesting has happened.” MJ said, but then Ned gasped in a breath and waved his hands.

”Shut up, MJ, what are you talking about!” He laughed before addressing Peter. ”Mr Larsson is getting a divorce and he’s a _mess_. He’s been like sending people to the office for literally nothing!”

“Oh, thank God… if he got my spot, I’d actually kill him.” He laughed, but then his jaw dropped at Ned’s news. “No way! I mean, Larsson’s always been a mess, but that’s insane! Does he still spit when he talks? I remember one time he was yelling at our class, and he was spitting a ton, and Abraham was sat in the front row, ‘n Abe put his hand up and went “Sir, I think it’s raining in here”.” Peter laughed, the memory making him wheeze slightly as he recounted it.

Both MJ and Ned burst into laughter at the infamous event with the math teacher and wiped tears from their eyes after calming down. ”Yeah, yeah, like even more now than before!” Ned added with a giggle.

Peter squealed with laughter, bent over double as he tried to catch his breath. “Oh, my God...” he soon sat up and slumped against the bench, his chest heaving from laughing so hard. “Fuck... anything else I should know?” He asked, looking from one friend to the other.

MJ and Ned looked at one before shaking their heads. ”No, not really.” MJ said with a shrug.

”But, why aren’t you in class with us? Isn’t Stark letting you come back?” Ned asked.

Peter grimaced at that. “Yeah, about that... May, uhm, got a letter a couple of weeks ago, while I was at the facility. It said... it said that cos I’ve missed so much school, I gotta... gotta retake the year.” He said, his face burning up with embarrassment. “If it was up to me, I would’ve 100% come back to school today, but May tried to stop me and then she told me about that letter, so...”

”Shit, man...” MJ said with a frown.

”But, you get such good grades like even with all your struggles. I don’t get it.” Ned said with a shake of his head. ”Why won’t they let you continue and graduate with us?”

 “Yeah, its all bullshit...” Loki’s voice echoed around his head when Peter said that, and his heart twinged a little bit. He missed Loki. “I dunno, maybe they thought the absences are just too much. I mean, Stark wrote me a note for the school and everything, telling them to cut me some slack, but I guess they don’t get to see that now.” He sighed, cracking his knuckles nervously.

”Hey, it’s worth a try!” MJ said and shoved at Peter. ”I didn’t know Peter Parker was such a pussy. Go show them the note and say that you won’t fall behind! You’ll put in the extra work and graduate with us.” She said and pointed an accusing finger at Peter. Ned seemed a little taken aback and watched with wide eyes without saying anything.

 “Hey, watch who you’re shovin’!” Peter laughed, pushing the girl back until their shoves devolved into a playful slap fight. He raised his hands in defeat when MJ pointed at him, and it almost felt like he was looking down the barrel of a gun as he stared at the tip of her finger between his eyes. “Listen, I 100% would, but... May doesn’t even know I’m here. She’s at work right now, and I’m pretty sure she’d go mental if she knew I was gonna go back to school even though the letter said I have to retake. She even suggested to take the rest of the year off before she told me about that letter, so... she really doesn’t want me back in school til I’m “ready”, whatever that means.”

”Damn.” MJ said with a shake of her head while Ned pulled an offended face on Peter’s behalf. ”Why doesn’t she want you back? Taking a year over can be troublesome, let alone lonely. I mean, we wouldn’t be here, so...” MJ said with a shrug.

“I dunno...” Peter muttered, shrugging his shoulders and looking at his two friends hopelessly. “I... I dunno.” He had no idea what to do, and the idea of retaking the year was beginning to weigh on his mind more and more each second.

They sat in silence for a while, but it was a tense and heavy one which none of them enjoyed. After a while, students began exiting the building and others came to enter to get to their classes. ”What do we have now?” Ned asked, breaking the silence.

 “Chem.” Peter blurted out, remembering the schedule off the top of his head. He blushed in embarrassment at the looks that Ned and MJ gave him, shrinking down against the bench. “I should... probably let you guys get to that, then.” He said quietly, watching some of the other students go by.

”Sorry, man.” Ned said and moved to get off the bench as did MJ.

”But, we can meet up after school? The usual?” MJ suggested with a smile.

”Yeah, it’s been so long.” Ned agreed and looked at Peter.

 “Y-Yeah, yeah! That sounds great.” Peter nodded, smiling a little easier than before. “You can come to mine, May won’t mind... at least, I don’t _think_  she will. Just swing by whenever, I’ll be around.” He said, also getting up on the bench to stand by his friends. These next few hours were gonna be pretty lonely, but Peter didn’t want to think about that right now.


	50. 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter tries again with doctor strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 50 chapters, 40 bookmarks, 500+ kudos and 13000+ hits! thank you so much for your support, let's keep this shit goin'!

This was almost like deja vu, the way that Peter was sat in the waiting room for his first proper session with Doctor Strange. He and Stark had arranged it so that Peter would start seeing the doctor as soon as possible to minimise any possible withdrawal issues after leaving the facility. As Peter sat there, he thought about the last few days. Ned and MJ had come over to his apartment on Monday afternoon, as promised, and May let them order in Chinese food. It was a good time, but May had seemed a little off. Maybe it was the whole ‘school’ thing. He sighed, slumping a little in the plastic chair as he waited, but flinched when he heard a door open nearby.

Stephen had spent the last hour going through the notes Tony had sent him on Peter, with the boy’s consent to do so of course. His old friend was good, Stephen had to admit that as he flipped through the reports on the sessions and saw the progress the boy had made, both physically and mentally. He hoped Peter would be willing to give him another chance, as the boy clearly needed the therapy and he was more than happy to provide it. Checking that it was time to get his new patient, Stephen got up from his desk and exited his office. ”Peter, hello.” The doctor greeted with a friendly smile when he saw the boy sat in the waiting room alone. Peter whipped his head up to look, very much looking like a frightened little animal. ”Come on in.” Stephen said and held his door open for Peter to enter.

Peter blinked a couple of times, hesitating to get up. _Come on, Parker. He’s not Stark, but he’s good. Give him a try._  Peter got up off the chair and mumbled a small “Hello” in reply when he walked past the doctor. He remembered the office, and so took the same seat that he took last time, gazing around the room to re-familiarise himself with the surroundings. For the time being, he didn’t even look at Strange, he was just interested in what he had in his office.

Stephen let Peter look around and get comfortable before saying anything. He settled down into his own chair in front of Peter and studied the boy for a quick moment. He had gained weight, that was clear, and overall he seemed to have more colour in his cheeks and sat more upright, rather than slumped in his chair. ”So, you’re back here.” Stephen started, putting on a little smile as he tried to catch Peter’s eyes.

When Strange spoke, Peter’s attention came back to the doctor. He saw the wry smile on the man’s face and he blushed lightly, embarrassed by what had happened previously. “Yeah, I... I am.” He gulped, not entirely sure whether to apologise for avoiding the man or whether to just leave it unsaid and move on. He scratched the underside of his jaw as he thought, noticing how Strange’s eyes were on him the entire time. They weren’t like Stark’s eyes, Stark’s eyes were tea-coloured and expressive, while Strange’s were an ice blue and piercing.

”And how have you been since I last saw you?” Stephen asked, remembering two weeks back when he had covered for Banner at the facility and met Peter. The boy was wandering the hallways in his pyjamas, clutching his spider stuffie for dear life in the middle of night. The doctor wondered what it would take for Peter to regress with him like he had done so many times with Tony.

 “Uhm... Better? Everyone says I look better, and to some extent I feel better.” Peter said, shifting in the seat to sit more comfortably. “I mean, there have been ups and downs, but... I’m alright overall, I think.” The boy didn’t want to bring up school just yet. He wasn’t necessarily _lying_  to the doctor about being alright, he was just omitting a couple of truths.

Stephen caught onto Peter’s unsatisfactory answer right away. He wasn’t going to accuse him of not being entirely honest, at least yet, so he let it slide for now. The boy could just be nervous too. ”That’s good to hear. Tell me more about what you mean when you say that you’re better, or alright overall like you said.” The doctor prompted.

 “Well... I’m _here_ , as opposed to in _there_ , so that means I must be better than I was, right?” He said, laughing nervously. When the man didn’t say anything in return, Peter chewed down on his bottom lip. He paused to think, his gaze on the floor so that he didn’t have to look the doctor in the eye. “I... Physically, ‘m not so tired any more. I weigh more, so that’s good... May’s been helpin’ me keep to a good eating schedule, so... uhh...” he stalled again, still trying to think.

”That’s good, that’s good.” Stephen nodded as he listened, very much pleased to hear that Peter had someone helping him. He didn’t add anything more and let Peter continue as he seemed to be thinking very hard about something.

 “That’s that, and then... mentally ‘m better as well, like, I... I’m not so afraid to speak my mind any more.” That was evidenced clearly by his yelling matches with Stark on the last few days he was at the facility, and his chest hurt a little bit as he thought about it. “I used to be... afraid to make people unhappy, or make them upset, and it would really get to me mentally when I did, but... I’m trying not to let other people’s opinions affect me so much.”

”That sounds great, Peter.” Stephen nodded with a genuine smile. He knew that the boy was being honest as well because Tony had written the same thing in the reports. ”So, all that happened at the facility and now you’re back home with your aunt. Is that correct?” The doctor summarised shortly.

Peter couldn’t help smiling back, settling back in the chair as the praise relaxed him a little bit more than he had been. “Uhm, yeah, that’s right. ‘s just me and May. Well, sometimes Ned and MJ come round, but… just me and May.” He nodded, his tongue darting out over dry lips as he looked at the doctor.

”I see.” Stephen nodded, pleased to see that Peter was becoming a little more comfortable. ”And do you remember what I asked you when you came here for the first time?” He asked.

“Uhh…” Peter’s face screwed up as he tried his hardest to remember. “N-No, I don’t… sorry.” He said, grimacing apologetically.

”I asked you why you were here and you couldn’t answer me.” Stephen said, remembering the nasty look Peter had given him when he had first asked that question. He hoped things would go a little differently this time. ”So, let me ask you again. Why are you here?” The doctor asked, giving Peter all the time he needed to figure out an answer.

Peter made a small noise of recognition, and he remembered how that conversation had gone. It had ended with Peter insulting the man and insisting that he couldn’t read, and that memory made another blush creep up the boy’s cheeks. “Uhm… I’m here, cos… cos I’m better but I wanna keep gettin’ better, and Stark suggested that it’d be a good idea to have someone to talk to while I’m… recovering? Is that the word?”

Stephen nodded as he listened to Peter’s answer, but had hoped that he would focus less on what others thought of him and go to therapy for his own sake instead. ”And what do you think getting better means? What will your life look like when you are better?” The doctor asked, hoping they could set some sort of goal early on.

“Uhm…” Peter paused to think again. “I wanna be able to… to get the confidence to do stuff I used to do before… before all of this. Like, uhm, I used to go swimming quite a lot, but then I stopped.” He said, leaving the ‘because Uncle Ben died’ unsaid. “I also used to be part of the school band, and decathlon.”

”Go back to swimming, the school band and decathlon.” Stephen rephrased. ”That sounds like something we can work on together. What do you think of that, Peter?” The doctor suggested.

Peter nodded. “Y-Yeah, that sounds good.” He fell silent, suddenly remembering that he _couldn’t_  go back to band or decathlon until he re-took the school year. That opened up a whole other can of worms in his mind, but for now he simply nodded along to what Strange was saying.

”I’m not asking to highlight that you aren’t well, Peter. I’m asking so that we can agree on some goals together, okay? Makes things easier for both you and me.” Stephen explained when he saw the frown on Peter’s face. ”And there is something else I have to ask you, if you’d be so kind and answer me. Why did you not show up to the second session? Again, not trying to be mean, but I need to know if you felt like I upset you in any way so that I can avoid that in the future.”

Ah, shit. Peter should’ve known that the doctor was going to ask this, but when he did it still came as a surprise. He hesitated to answer, thinking about how best to phrase it. “It… It wasn’t _you_ , you didn’t… you didn’t upset me or anythin’…” He mumbled, grimacing as he tried to explain. “I-I just… I was used to Stark, ‘n… ‘n I didn’t feel comfortable changing doctors so quickly, and… yeah. It w-wasn’t anything personal, I just…” Peter stammered his words and wrung his hands together anxiously. How was he supposed to explain to Strange his infatuation with the man’s rival?

Stephen interpreted Peter’s flustered state while explaining as still being uncomfortable with the change in doctor. It wasn’t an uncommon feeling among patients and many had trouble with the transitioning. ”I see. I want you to know that many patients feel like that when they get a new doctor, and that’s completely fine. It takes some time to get used to a new person, yeah?” The doctor explained, trying to catch Peter’s eyes to see that he was being sincere.

 “Y-Yeah.” Peter nodded minutely, but he didn’t lift his gaze. _None of those patients were infatuated with their doctors, though, were they? None of them made out with their doctors on a daily basis, did they?_  Peter let out a shaky breath and finally looked the man in the eye. “‘m sorry for not... giving you a chance before.” He said quietly, still wringing his hands together.

”That’s all right, Peter.” Stephen chuckled with a wave of his hand. ”I understand that it can be hard, but what matters now is that you are here. So, what would you like to talk about?” The doctor smiled now that they had agreed on a few things.

Peter’s shoulders dropped a little with relief, previously tense from having to explain to Strange why he avoided him like the plague. When asked what he wanted to talk about, he paused, thinking it over. “Do you... do you still have my notes from Stark? What do they say? ‘m kinda curious.” He admitted, scratching his neck sheepishly. He had a general idea of what the doctor thought of him privately (the word ‘irresistible’ floated around his head and made his heart skip a beat), but Peter couldn’t help wonder what he had written down.

Stephen thought it was a fair question that Peter deserved to get an answer to and nodded. ”I do. He sent me quite a lot after you gave your consent to it. You have talked about your issues together, right?” Stephen asked, remembering from Tony’s notes that Peter had asked about the doctor’s assessment of his mental state quite early on.

 “Y-Yeah. We talked about ‘em.” Peter nodded. “I mean, I only asked for my diagnosis cos... cos Loki made fun of me one time for not knowing what it was.” Peter said, and then laughed quietly to himself. It was weird that at one point, Loki was so hostile to him, but by the time he left the two of them were great friends and were almost inseparable.

Stephen made a mental note to ask about Loki at another time. ”Right, right. Well, based on Stark’s interpretation of you, you have issues with attachment and low self esteem, which results in some troublesome ways of thinking. Does that sound right?” The doctor asked.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, he told me that too. That sounds fair.” That phrasing, ‘Stark’s interpretation of him’, made him even more curious that before, and he wondered what else was included in this interpretation.

”But, that is his interpretation.” Stephen emphasised. ”Nothing is set in stone here, all right? When transitioning from one doctor to another, I believe it should be a chance for one to start over again. I will have Stark’s notes, but I will not pay them too much mind, honestly.” The doctor said with a chuckle. ”I want to get to know _you_  and I’d much rather hear it from you than anyone else.”

“Right, right…” Peter nodded, but then snorted. “Are you not gonna pay attention to them so you can do a better job than him?” He asked before he could stop himself. He froze, fearing he’d already gone too far. “Sorry… Stark, uhm, told me about how you used to study together ‘n stuff.” The phrase ‘hate-sex’ suddenly came into his head from one of his last sessions with Stark, and it made him blush as he looked at the other half of the duo in front of him.

Stephen laughed at Peter’s clever comment and shook his head. ”What sort of stories has he been telling you?” The doctor asked, still laughing a bit when some old memories popped up in his head.

Peter was secretly relieved that they were sort-of talking about Stark right now. It meant that he could think about the man without feeling guilty, and so he thought for a couple of seconds before answering. “He didn’t really tell me any _stories_ , but… he just told me that you and him used to study together and you were always really competitive with each other.” He said truthfully, with a shrug of one shoulder. “Are there any stories?”

”Yes, we were more or less always at each others’ throats during that time.” Stephen chuckled before thinking of a story. ”Hmm... Well, there was that time when Tony was convinced he did better than me on a paper, only because I had the flu while writing it, but then the professor dropped the graded papers in front of us and he got a B+, while I got an A.” The doctor said with a shrug. ”I teased him about it for a whole month.”

Peter grinned the entire time the doctor was telling the story, and by the end of it he was stifling giggles. “I can see him doing that. I… I have a story about him, but you... you gotta promise you won’t bring it up in front of him.” He mumbled.

Stephen was very happy to see Peter laughing in his company so soon, despite them only having met about three times. ”My whole job is about keeping secrets, so fire away.” Stephen chuckled and waved his hand so that Peter would tell him.

“Okay, well…” Peter let out a little exhale with the last of his giggles before speaking again. “So, uhm, we were… we were doin’ age regression therapy ‘n I was drawin’ stuff, and I, like, asked Stark if he could draw? And he was all “Oh, no, not really, I don’t really do art” so I… I mean, I knew about your kinda… your rivalry at this point, so I went “Oh, well that’s a shame, I bet _Strange_  can draw”, and he…” Peter burst into giggles again, stifling them with his hand. “He just gave this super grumpy look and took the pencil to start drawin’ something. I-I’d never seen him so, like, competitive, and it was super funny.”

Stephen burst into laughter along with Peter. He found it endlessly amusing that Tony was still so hung up on their past and their rivalry. Stephen, on the other hand, felt like he had grown out of it after so many years of not working with Tony. Still, he couldn’t help but mention the A he got when he did get the chance to see Tony. ”Oh, Christ, that sounds exactly like him. I guess he never changed.” Stephen chuckled as he tried to calm down.

Peter’s giggles eventually calmed down and he rubbed at his face to minimise the strain on his cheeks from smiling so much. “I mean, I obviously didn’t know him back then, but… he does seem like the type to hold onto a grudge.” The boy said, shifting on his chair again to sit more comfortably. “My friends said that you and him worked together on research into age regression? They, uh, they read your papers and I felt bad cos… cos I didn’t really know you were well known in psychiatry.”

”Yes, he is a bit like that.” Stephen said with a smile. ”And yes, we have done a few research papers together, but I wouldn’t say we are famous or anything.” The doctor said with a wave of his hand. ”No groundbreaking results, but we felt the need to show our critics that age regression therapy works, and we did.” Stephen explained, feeling a bit proud that Peter’s friends had read his papers.

“Huh, cool…” Peter hummed, but then there was the elephant in the room. “Are… are _we_  gonna do age regression stuff? I-I don’t mind either way, ‘m just… yeah.” Peter stammered, his nerves finally catching up with him and making him shrink into his chair with his hands fumbling in his lap.

”If you want to, yes.” Stephen said, noticing Peter’s change in body language. ”We do not have much time left to do it now, but we can try next time. How does that sound?” The doctor asked.

“Cool, cool cool cool.” Peter nodded. In a way, he was sort of relieved that they didn’t have time for it today. It meant that Peter could prepare for it if they did it in their next session, and so he didn’t protest it. “That sounds fine.”

”All right.” Stephen said with a nod and reached for the papers that he had put on the table in between them. ”There’s some practical stuff that I’d like us to go through before we are done for today. Is that okay?” The doctor asked.

Peter hadn’t even noticed the papers on the table before Strange picked them up, but now that he had, he couldn’t stop looking at them. When Strange spoke, his gaze moved to look the man in the face. “Yeah, that’s… that’s fine. What kinda practical stuff?”

”Things like your weight and medication and such.” Stephen said and flipped through the papers before looking at Peter. ”You had a medical exam at the facility, correct? When was that and how much did you weigh?” The doctor knew the answers already, but he wanted to hear it from Peter.

“Yeah, yeah, I did.” Peter tried his best to separate the memories of getting himself weighed and his blood pressure done from the memories of being sat on the examination table making out with Doctor Stark, and it took him a couple of seconds to answer. “That was… uh… I can’t remember the exact day, but it was, like, a week and a half into staying there? And then I think I weighed… 119 point something, I don’t remember the decimal.”

Stephen nodded, pleased to find that the number Peter gave him matched the one in the reports from Tony. ”And do you have a scale at home?” The doctor asked and when the boy nodded, he continued. ”I’d like if you kept track of your weight, okay? I suggest you weigh yourself every week and be honest with me about what it says. I won’t be disappointed or angry or anything like that if you lose or don’t gain weight. I just need to know in case something more has to be done to keep you healthy, all right?”

Peter listened to the doctor carefully, and nodded in response to his questions. “Yeah, I can do that.” He said, scratching the back of his neck once more. He still gazed curiously at the papers in the man’s hands occasionally, but otherwise looked down at the floor. His feelings of missing Stark were beginning to creep up on him again, but he shoved them to the back of his mind as best he could.

”Good, good.” Stephen said before moving onto the next point. ”And then it’s your medication. Which ones did Stark prescribe you?”

Peter hummed for a moment, before listing the four medications correctly. He sat back in his chair, a little surprised that he had remembered all of their names.

”Have you been taking them since you’ve come back home?” Stephen asked.

Peter nodded again. “Yeah, I have. I can forget to sometimes but then either May reminds me or I see them in my room and I realise I haven’t taken them that day, so... yeah.”

”That’s good, that’s good. And keep taking them everyday, okay? It’s very important that you do that, but if you experience any side effects, then tell me about it and we will work it out.” The doctor instructed with a reassuring smile. ”Then, it’s one last thing for today. How often would you like to have these sessions?”

Peter hummed again in regards to the doctor’s comments about his medicine. When he asked about the sessions, however, he paused to think. He didn’t want them as frequently as he saw Stark, that would be inconvenient and overbearing. “Uhm... maybe once a week at the least. Once every couple of days to begin with, and then we just... see how it goes?” He suggested, shrugging with one shoulder.

”That sounds good, yes.” Stephen said as he looked through his schedule. ”How about Tuesdays and Fridays at 11?” The doctor suggested. ”And then we’ll see how it goes.”

 “Yeah, that sounds fine.” _It’s not like I’m doing much else anyway_ , Peter thought to himself bitterly. “See how it goes...” The boy mumbled under his breath, nodding to himself. He had to give Strange a chance.

”All right, then...” Stephen muttered, mostly to himself as he wrote down the next session for Friday on a little note. ”There. Is there anything you’d like to ask me? And no question is stupid.” The doctor said and passed the note over to Peter.

Peter took the note, folding it up and tucking it safely into his pocket. This time, he would make sure not to throw it in the trash. He hummed, thinking about any other questions he wanted to ask. “Uhm… What’s the worst thing you and Stark ever did at med school? Only cos those stories are really funny.” The boy snorted.

Stephen did not expect that question, but chuckled nonetheless. He figured he could tell as it seemed to make Peter more relaxed and hopefully he would actually come to the next session. ”Huh... Worst thing. I mean, we made a bet about cheating on a quiz and like which of us would get away with it.” The doctor said with a chuckle, but then remembered what Tony and he had done after getting caught.

Peter grinned at that. “What happened? Did you get away with it, did you win the bet?” He asked, sitting back in his chair and watching the doctor. Stark wasn’t lying when he said that the two men were competitive, it seemed that they were at each other’s throats making bets and making fun of each other all the time.

”We both got caught and were given a stern warning by the professor.” _And then we had sex in the bathroom_ , Stephen thought to himself, but did not say it aloud. The doctor was more than happy to talk about himself to make his patients become more comfortable and trust him, but Peter did not need to know about the angry sex he had had with Tony back in the day.

The look on Strange’s face indicated that there was another part to the story that he wasn’t telling Peter, but the boy didn’t ask. Baby steps. He simply just laughed in response to the story and imagined a fresh-faced Stark and Strange getting yelled at by a professor, and that was funny enough on its’ own. “Cool… I, uh, don’t have any other questions. I just wanted to ask that one.”

”All right then.” Stephen smiled and moved to stand up from his seat along with Peter. ”Then I will see you on Friday.” The doctor said.

Peter followed suit, standing up and groaning a little as he stood on his tiptoes to stretch his legs. “Friday.” He parroted, nodding. The note was still safe in his pocket, and it remained there as he left the man’s office and headed home. Once he had gotten home, the note was placed on the fridge and held there by a magnet, so that May could see it as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly the differences in rafni's two co-authored fics is hilarious. in little patients it's all like "heres the next chapter, what do you guys think will happen next? yay interaction!" whereas here its just "here is the content, take it, dont ask questions"
> 
> love u lot tho


	51. 51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony try to move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay but stormzy's new track is so fuckin merky, got me vossi boppin so hard its rude

The days where Peter didn’t see Strange or didn’t sneak out of the apartment to visit Ned and MJ were the worst. They provided some kind of distraction for him, especially Ned and MJ with their constant friendly bickering and Peter caught in the middle of it all. On days like today, Thursday, Peter was left alone in the apartment to play online games and stare hopelessly at the ceiling. There was nothing to distract him from the dull weight in his chest that got heavier and heavier every time he thought of Stark. He hated this. He missed the man _so much_ , and he knew he wasn’t getting better by thinking about him so often, but how could he not? It was so stupid and clichéd, but every time a sappy love song (or worse, a sappy break-up song) came on the radio, his mind would drift back to the man’s tea-coloured eyes and his cocky grin.

Peter groaned and leaned forward to turn his PS4 off. This wasn’t working, nothing could keep his mind from returning to thinking about the doctor over and over again. He collapsed on his bed and rolled over to shove his face into his pillow. Even in the darkness where his eyes were screwed shut against the fabric, he could still see the man in his mind’s eye and it was enough to make the boy let out a muffled scream. He couldn’t tell anybody about what they’d done, Stark had made him promise that, but even just the thought of mentioning to May that he missed his doctor made him feel sick. He wanted to get _better_ , and this wasn’t getting better.

Almost as if the radio was taunting him, the crooning sounds of Lord Huron’s “The Night We Met” began to fill his room and he sighed, turning his head to one side so he could rest it properly against his pillow. He wondered what Stark was doing right this second, probably talking to another patient in his office or chatting with one of the nurses.

_I had all, and then most of you, some and now none of you... Take me back to the night we met..._

Peter heard those lyrics and his stomach twisted. He remembered meeting Stark as clear as day. He probably didn’t want to return to that point, knowing that he had hated his guts, but... what he wouldn’t give to go back to see the man again.

As the song faded out, Peter went to rub at his face tiredly, but realised he had been crying. He wiped his face down and sat up, gazing out of his window down to the street below. He really was hopeless.

No matter what he did, his thoughts always went back to Tony fucking Stark.

He looked over at his desk, where he had placed the leopard drawing that Stark did for him, and the little teddy bear he had gotten from his Happy Meal when they had gone swimming, and his heart ached again.

Peter got up off his bed and took a couple of steps closer to his desk, sinking into his desk chair to look at the drawing more closely. He huffed with laughter as he remembered how he had convinced Stark to draw the picture, but now all he could see was the man’s hands as they made their way across the page to draw the big cat.

_Get a hold of yourself, Peter._

His growling stomach suddenly made him aware that he hadn’t eaten yet, and so he hauled himself off the chair to head to the kitchen, memories of Stark still rattling around his skull.

He busied himself for a while by making pasta, and opening up a small tub of pasta sauce that May kept in the fridge. He let the bubbling of the boiling water distract him from his own thoughts, and stirred the spaghetti in the pot slowly with a fork. At this point, he had put his headphones in, and took a little pleasure in dancing slowly around the kitchen as he prepared his food. _Imagine if Stark saw you dancing like this, like an idiot_. That was enough to stop Peter in his tracks and he groaned, tugging at his own hair. Why did everything have to go back to that damn doctor?

\---

Two days after Peter had left, another emergency patient had arrived at the facility. The patient was Harley Keener, just turned 20, and admitted for the first time due to his self destructive behaviour that had become worse the last few months. Tony was very much busy with the new boy, but working with Harley only reminded him of Peter, which caused his heart to ache in his chest. He missed Peter, he missed him _a lot_ , but he tried to push those thoughts aside and tend to Harley after getting paged by one of the nurses.

”Fuck off!” Harley screamed and ran off with Steve and Thor right behind him. Tony was overwhelmed with a sense of deja vu as he remembered Peter doing the exact same thing. It was almost scary how similar Harley was to Peter, although their reason for being admitted were widely different. With Peter lingering in his mind, Tony sighed and followed the two nurses who seemed to have gotten the boy restrained and pushed up against the wall around the corner, based on the profanities and screams coming from the boy.

”You guys don’t give a shit about me! You’re just getting paid to care, it’s not real! Let me fucking go!” Harley screamed, but Steve nor Thor budged and held the boy up against the wall so that he could not hurt himself nor hurt them. Those arguments sounded awfully familiar to another patient with yellow spots in his irises, Tony thought with a sigh.

 _S_ _top fucking thinking about Peter Parker_.

Tony came over and stood on the side so that Harley could see him. ”Harley, we do care and that is why we are doing this. Take some deep breaths for me and it will get better.” He instructed with a gentle, but firm enough voice that he got the boy’s attention.

”I fucking can’t when they are crushing me!” Harley snapped back.

”They aren’t crushing you, so take a deep breath now. In and out... In and out.”

After another round of cursing and struggling against the muscly nurses, Harley took a few deep breaths, not because he wanted to, but because he didn’t have the energy to fight anymore and gave up. Hearing the boy’s breaths even out, Tony smiled a little. ”That’s good. Well done, Peter.” Tony said and widened his eyes when he realised his mistake. Both Steve and Thor shot him a weird look and the doctor hastily fixed his mistake. ”Sorry, I mean Harley, of course.” He said, but the boy did not seem to notice as he finally began crying. Tony gestured for the nurses to let go of him.

_Get a hold of yourself, Stark._

The embarrassment of his mistake made him feel hot and the collar of his shirt felt tight around his neck. Clearing his throat, Tony crouched down in front of the boy who was now slumped against the wall, his shoulder shaking as he cried. ”Let’s go somewhere and talk, hm?” Tony suggested and when Harley did not openly protest, the two nurses helped him up from the floor and back on his feet to lead him to Tony’s office.

\---

A couple of hours later, Peter had turned on his PS4 again. It was after 4, which meant that Ned was home and they could play online Battlefront together. It was a relief that his best friend was there, because it meant he was more worried about the Stormtrooper that was currently flanking them on his screen than a certain brown-haired, brown-eyed doctor. He was so absorbed in the game that he didn’t hear the front door shut, nor did he hear May’s call to announce she was home.

”Peter?” May called out again, dropping her bag on the sofa to search for her nephew. She felt panic beginning to build in her chest when she did not get a response and went straight to Peter’s room, relief but also a little angry at finding the boy with his headphones on. ”Peter!”

The movement at the corner of his eye was what made him look towards his bedroom door to see his aunt stood there. “Oh, shit, hey May!” He said, hurriedly taking his headphones off and dropping his controller so that his character on screen suddenly froze in place. He stood up off his beanbag and smiled. “How was, uh, how was your shift?”

”Tiring, as always.” May chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair as she leaned against the doorframe. ”I had a bit of a fight with one of the family members. She called me a bitch and everything.” She laughed and then studied Peter quickly. ”Have you eaten today? And your meds?”

“Oh, Christ… Some people can really be dicks. I mean, you’re only trying to help them!” Peter said, pulling an offended face at hearing how May had gotten into an argument. “And yeah, I ate. I used up the last of that pasta sauce in the fridge to make myself some spaghetti, and I took my meds this morning.” He nodded.

”Yeah, yeah! And I tried to explain that to her, but she just got angrier. But, anyway that’s all over with!” May said with a wave of her hand and put on a smile. ”That’s good, that’s good, baby.” She said, relieved to hear that Peter had been taking care of himself. ”Oh, I’m starving! Join me in the kitchen and tell me about your day.” She suggested and headed off.

Peter glanced back at his screen, where his character now laid dead, and quickly picked up his headset to tell Ned he was going AFK. He followed May out of his room and into the kitchen, where he hopped up on the nearby kitchen surface and watched May move around the space. “My day was…” _Filled with thoughts of Stark, as it always is._ “It was fine. Didn’t really do much, just played Battlefront and then thought about what I’m gonna talk about with Strange tomorrow.” He said, gesturing to the note on the fridge.

May nodded as she found what she needed to make her own pasta, although she would have to add pesto and not tomato sauce. ”And what are you going to talk about with him?” She asked and shot Peter a quick look and a smile before continuing with sorting out a pot and filling it with water.

“I kinda wanna… wanna make, like, a schedule for when I start going swimming again. Strange said that he’d help me get to a point where I can do the things that I used to, so I think he’ll want to help me with making something like that.” Peter explained. “Last week we just talked about my goals and stuff. Oh, and he told me some stories from med school, cos he and Stark used to study together.” He snorted, though the mention of Stark’s name made him ache. It’s like his subconscious was just begging for a reason to bring the man up in conversation.

”That sounds great. I remember when you used to almost skip homework to go swimming all the time.” May laughed, pleased to hear that Peter’s new doctor was helping him with that. She wanted her nephew to get out of the apartment more, but just not to go to school. ”And what’s your goal then?” She asked, measuring the pasta in a cup.

“Uh… I just wanna be able to do the things I used to do before…” Peter trailed off, the memory of Uncle Ben hitting him in the chest. He didn’t have to say it, both Peter and May knew what he was referring to. “And just, you know, I wanna continue to get better.”

”That’s great, baby, and you will get better. Trust me, I know a thing or two about caring for people and nothing lasts forever. Not even suffering.” May said with a smile and patted Peter’s thigh where he sat on the counter.

Peter nodded, and his heart swelled a little when May patted his thigh. He smiled back at her gently, and despite the madness with missing Stark, he knew that ultimately she was right. He would just have to get on with it, and it would be fine. “You, uhm, wanna watch something while you eat? You can pick.” He said, though he instantly regretted that as he knew she always chose some embarrassing romantic flicks.

May nearly dropped the can of pesto when she heard Peter take the initiative to do something together. ”Oh, you’ll let me chose? Why, thank you, mister.” She grinned widely as she listed some possible options, all romantic movies that they had watched before.

 “Oh _nooooo_!” Peter groaned, laughing as he covered his face with his hands. “Why did I think it was a good idea to let you choose!” He giggled. “Alright, alright, choose the one with the least amount of cringey PDA, and we’ll go with that one.” He said, dropping his hands from his face but still laughing at May’s wide grin.

”All right, all right, I’ll go easy on you. Go put on ‘The Proposal’ and I’ll be over in a bit.” May said and went to turn off the stove now that the pasta had boiled.

 “‘The Proposal’?” Peter repeated, and then made a prolonged noise of complaint until May lightly slapped him on the shoulder and the noise broke down into giggles again. He hopped off the counter and went into the living room, searching on the shelves for the DVD. He found it and popped it into the TV and then waited, remote in hand, for May to appear.

Once she had mixed a good amount of pesto into her pasta, she brought her bowl and a glass of water. She placed it all on the coffee table before sitting on the sofa with a groan. ”Oh, Ryan Reynolds save me!” She groaned out from being so tired and gestured for Peter to start the movie.

Peter snorted but pressed the ‘play’ button obligingly. As the movie started and Peter’s senses were barraged with horrific romcom-specific jokes, he found himself moving closer to May until his head was rested on her shoulder, and then soon he was drifting off to sleep.


	52. 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an argument.

The next day was Peter’s second session with Doctor Strange. He stuck to his promise and went to the doctor, and he thought he saw a quick flash of relief go across the man’s face before he was invited into the office. After his session, he headed back home and began clock-watching for 3:30pm, when he, Ned and MJ were going to meet up and go to MJ’s house. Soon, 3:00pm rolled around and Peter decided he couldn’t wait any longer, so he headed to the school where he waited outside for his friends to show up.

As soon as the bell rung, MJ and Ned jumped up from their desks and headed out of the building. They had agreed to meet Peter by the basketball court and found him waiting there. ”Hey, dude!” Ned grinned widely as he came over along with MJ.

”You good, Peter?” MJ asked, happy to see Peter again.

Peter only had to wait a couple of minutes before MJ and Ned appeared at the other end of the court, and he jogged to meet them in the middle. “Hey, dipshits. I’m alright, how’re you lot?” He asked as the three of them headed off in the direction of MJ’s house. Luckily for her, she didn’t live as far away as Ned or Peter, so it was only a ten minute walk to her house.

”Mr Larsson’s just getting worse! Like today, Rebecca asked him which day the test is, because she was sick the other day, and he said Monday, except he had said it was going to be on Wednesday! So everyone like said ‘no, you said Wednesday’ and he fucking _snapped_ , dude!” Ned rambled and MJ nodded along in confirmation.

”His head was like ready to explode, that’s how angry he got.” MJ added.

Peter’s eyes widened as Ned rambled through the story. “Jesus... Larsson never really had his head screwed on properly, so maybe this is the thing that’s finally made him lose the plot.” He said. He dodged a couple of freshmen walking down the street in the opposite direction and jogged to catch up with his friends. “Maybe he’s the one that should be seeing a therapist instead of me.” He joked.

”Oh, my God!” Ned and MJ laughed at Peter’s joke. ”He really should!” MJ said with a grin before they rounded the corner and the nearest store to MJ’s place came into view. ”Should we grab something? I don’t have much at home right now.” The girl said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Peter grinned at his friends when they laughed at his joke. Usually, he would’ve felt a little awkward joking about something as serious as therapy, but knowing that they weren’t freaked out about it made Peter a lot more comfortable about discussing it. “Hell yeah, May never keeps good snacks in our apartment.” He nodded, and Ned seemed to be happy either way, so they headed in the direction of the nearby grocery store. “What’re we thinking, candy or chips?” He asked.

”Uhm, both, duh.” MJ laughed and went to grab both. Next, they grabbed some soda and two frozen pizzas to share. ”I got it now, but you guys can pay me back.” MJ said and soon they were out of the store again and walked up to the girl’s house.

”But, yeah, that’s what we have been up to. What about you, Peter? Nothing besides seeing the shrink?” Ned asked as MJ let them into the house and all headed to the kitchen first.

Peter nodded about paying the girl back as they headed back to her house. They all went to the kitchen, where Peter hopped up on the counter. “Yeah, not much really. I’ve just been seeing Strange, and then hanging out with May in the evenings.” He said, watching MJ trying to take the packaging off of the frozen pizza.

”So what’s he like then? Anything like that Stark guy? I’m almost jealous that you’re getting therapy from them.” Ned said as he found some bowls for the chips and candy.

”They aren’t famous, I told you!” MJ argued with a sigh and a fond shake of her head.

Peter snorted at his friend’s exchange, but took a moment to think. “He’s alright. He’s... He’s got these really piercing blue eyes, and it’s like he stares into your soul when he’s looking at you.” The boy snorted, bulging his eyes out comedically at MJ who shoved him. “They’re two different people though. Like, Strange tells me more about himself than Stark did. Stark was very... very closed off.” He said, and his heart sank as he realised that yes, Stark _was_  very closed off. He barely knew anything about the man, but here he was in love with him.

”I mean, that’s what doctors do, though right? Like if I was dying and need of medical help and my doctor sits down to talk about his cat, I’d slap him.” MJ laughed after creating her absurd story.

”I can imagine you doing that, oh my God.” Ned laughed along.

 “No, no, he didn’t talk about his cat! I asked about his time with Stark at medical school, and it was just them constantly at each other’s throats and holding bets to see who could be the best at what they did.” He said, laughing at the girl’s story as well.

”But, they did research together? How did they manage that if they are constantly fighting?” Ned wondered while MJ got the pizza in the oven. She went to sit down by the little table in the kitchen while Ned leaned against the doorframe.

Peter shrugged. “No idea. I... One time I joked that they had hate sex and Stark got offended.” He snorted, shrugging his shoulders. “They’re still kinda at each other’s throats, one time I got Stark to do something just by implying that Strange could do it better than him."

”Shit!” Ned laughed and MJ made a little face to show that she was impressed.

”What does your aunt think of them? She’s met them both, right?” MJ asked.

 “She has, yeah. She thought that Stark was attractive and that Strange had super high cheekbones, which... yeah, he does.” He nodded. “She’s worked with Strange before, sometimes he works at the clinic she works at.”

”Being pretty makes it easier to become famous.” MJ pointed out with a shrug and Ned was about to argue, but shut his mouth after he considered it and found MJ to be right. ”So, when are you seeing that Strange guy again?” MJ asked and got up to check the pizza.

“I saw him today, actually.” Peter said, also leaning forward to peer into the oven to see how the pizza was doing. “I see him every Tuesday and Friday, at 11.” He recited, leaning back again once MJ moved away from the oven.

”Wait? Every Tuesday and Friday? What about school?” MJ asked after deciding to give the pizza another few minutes.

“I- I told you guys, I have to retake the year. I don’t _want_  to, but… it’s my only choice, so I don’t really care when the sessions are. It’s not like they’re clashing with anything, I just spend all day at home anyway.” Peter said glumly, looking down at his hands.

”Is that was the letter said exactly?” MJ asked sceptically. ”Because I had a friend who was gone for months because of an accident and she didn’t have to retake because she made some sort of arrangement with the teachers.” She explained.

Peter froze. What _did_  the letter say? He realised with a sudden rush of cold that he hadn’t actually _read_  the letter at all, and had just relied on May’s explanation that he’d have to retake the year. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t read it, May just told me that there was a letter and I’d have to retake.” He said slowly, but his mind was racing. What the hell was going on?

”You didn’t read it yourself?” Ned repeated and MJ also sat up in her seat. Before they could ask more, the timer went off and MJ had to get up and get the pizza out of the oven. ”You okay, man?” Ned asked, seeing that Peter seemed to be somewhere else entirely.

Peter gazed into the middle distance, not quite sure what to make of it all. Was May purposefully hiding something from him? Why would she be so adamant that he had to retake? His train of thought was derailed by Ned’s face suddenly swimming into view, and he blinked a couple of times before smiling uneasily. “Yeah, dude, I’m fine. Just… distracted, and _hungry_. How’s the pizza looking, MJ?” He asked, hopping off the counter to avoid talking about school any longer. He’d have to take a look at that letter when he got home.

\---

Peter got home later that evening. He and his friends had spent their time together eating terrible food and watching terrible TV shows, which sparked a contest of who could come up with the best insults for the shows they were watching. MJ won, obviously, and left tears of laughter in Ned and Peter’s eyes. Now that joy was gone entirely, and as soon as Peter entered his apartment, he dropped his bag down at the floor and headed to the living room in search of the letter May had told him about.

May was beyond exhausted when she arrived home that night. She fumbled with her keys for a long moment before she finally got the door unlocked and dragged herself inside. All she wanted was her bed, nothing more. It was late, so she did not bother with calling out for her nephew as she figured he was fast asleep at this point. However, she turned out to be wrong when she saw Peter stood in the kitchen. ”Oh! Baby, you scared me! What are you still doing up?” She asked with a tired chuckle and went to get a glass of water for herself, then she would head to bed.

Peter had read and re-read the letter six times by the time May arrived home. The phrases ‘extraneous circumstances’ and ‘subject to change’ emblazoned themselves onto his retinas, and when May came in, he quickly folded up the letter and leaned back against the kitchen counter so that it was hidden behind his back. “May? What… what did that letter from school say, when you got it?”

May frowned at the question. ”Peter, we’ve talked about this. Besides it's too late, baby, I don't have the energy to do this.” She said with an apologetic face.

“N-No.” Peter shook his head, daring to stand up to his aunt. “We talked about the b-bits that _you_  wanted to talk about. I looked at the letter, it says that… that students can appeal to not retake, and that if they discuss it with the school well enough in advance, then they can graduate the same year. W-Why didn’t you tell me about that part?”

May sighed heavily when she realised that Peter had read the letter. But, did he have to do this now? ”Baby, I see you're angry, but can we have this conversation another time? I'm sorry, but I am too exhausted right now. I've been working all day and now all night and that woman came back and yelled at me again and-”

“May! Y-You gotta listen to me! I-I-I just wanna see why you didn’t tell me about that part of the letter, it’s too important to ignore!” Peter said, taking a step forward from the counter. “Why can’t I go into school and try, _try_  to talk to them about letting me graduate this year? Why won’t you _let_  me do that?”

”Peter, I'm begging you...” May said with a whimper as she set her glass down. ”I cannot do this right now.” She said and headed to the bathroom with shuffling feet.

Peter watched her leave, but was quick to follow. “If you just listen to me for _thirty seconds_ , I-I _really_  think that I should go in and ask, a-a-and I just don’t see why you think that’s a bad idea! I know you want me to get better, but isn’t going back to school a _sign_  that I’m getting better?” He said as he followed his aunt towards the bathroom.

 _”Peter Benjamin!”_ May snapped as she turned around to face her nephew. ”That's enough! I'm doing all this to protect you because I love you! And where's the gratitude?” She asked harshly and slammed the bathroom door shut.

Peter froze when May used his full name. It reminded him of the last time his full name was used, back when Stark had snapped at him, and the boy had completely crumpled and had an anxiety attack. He was feeling some of that now, as he looked hopelessly into the furious eyes of his aunt, who then turned and slammed the door in his face. With little else to do, he had no choice but to retreat to his bedroom and get into bed, his hands still shaking.


	53. 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an incident.

Peter had barely slept that night. He was tossing and turning, completely riddled with guilt at how he had treated May when he should’ve known that she was tired from work. However, he did allow himself to be a little angry at how she had kept the letter from him and insisted that the only option was to retake the year. As the day progressed, Peter became more and more antsy and fidgety, unable to keep to one activity for very long before he was up and moving about again. He clock-watched until 7pm, when May usually got home.

Usually.

Today, however, at 8:30pm, she still wasn’t home, and Peter was worrying. She didn’t _usually_  take late shifts without warning him, but maybe she was so mad at him that she had taken it and just not told him. His leg bounced against the floor as he played his ninth consecutive game of Battlefront, waiting for any sign of May’s arrival home. Suddenly, he heard the phone rang and instantly sprang off of his beanbag to get it. He ran out of his room and into the living room, where the landline phone sat in its home, and he picked it up as quickly as possible. “H-Hello? May?”

”Hi. Is this Peter Parker? May Parker's nephew?” A female voice asked. ”I'm Maria Hill and I work with your aunt and uhm- I'm calling because something has happened here. To your aunt...”

“Y-Yeah, it’s Peter speaking. What’s happened, is she alright? Fuck, is she okay?” Oh God, oh God, oh God. Peter’s hand, the one holding the phone, began to shake, and he gripped onto it as hard as he could to ground himself.

”Oh, darling... There was uhm- there was an attack and your aunt was hurt. I don't know how badly, but she was just picked up by the ambulance and they are taking care of her at the ER. I just- had to let you know, Peter. I'm very sorry.”

“An _attack_?!” Peter cried. His breathing picked up, getting quicker and quicker and quicker, and he didn’t know what to do. “Wait, wait, w-w-what do I do? I- She’s in the ER? I- I…” He tried his best to remain calm, but a sentence with the words ‘attack’ and ‘May’ together made Peter’s head spin.

This couldn’t be happening. Not… Not after Ben.

”Yes, there was a drunk family member who became violent. Others were hurt too.” Maria explained, but hearing Peter's breaths quicken, she went ahead and reassured her as best as she could. ”Your aunt is being taken care of, love, there's nothing else to be done, I'm afraid. Are you alone, Peter?”

“I-“ Peter had to sit down. He stumbled his way to the couch and collapsed onto it, his legs shaking and his head spinning. Not May too, please God, not May too. “I-I am, yeah. I-I-I’ll be fine. It’s just… It’s just shock, that’s all, I’ll be fine.” He lied, trying his best to maintain his breathing.

”That's what they all say, love.” Maria chuckled a little, but not for long. ”Is there someone you can call?”

“Uhm…” Shit. Peter didn’t have anyone to call… until Stark came to mind.

A furious debate went on inside his head for a split second, but he realised that he hadn’t answered the woman’s question. “Yeah, I-I do. I have someone I can call. I’ll be alright. Th-Thanks for letting me know anyway, Miss.” He said politely, though his heart was pounding in his chest.

”That's good. Call them and take care of yourself, love. Someone from the hospital will call you and tell you more soon, but don't worry too much, okay? May is in good hands.”

“R-Right. Thank you, goodbye.” Peter said, pressing ‘End Call’ on the phone and slumping back against the couch. It took him a couple of minutes to process what had happened, that May had been attacked by a drunk person at work, and that Peter was now alone with no support to speak of until Strange’s session next week.

_Call Stark._

 A small voice in his head spoke up, begging him to call his old doctor, and Peter stared down at the phone in his hand. Before he knew what he was doing, he looked up the phone number of the facility on May’s laptop and punched the numbers into the phone, holding the handset shakily to his ear as he waited for someone to pick up.

Finally, someone did.

Peter let out a shaky breath. “H-Hi, my name is, uhm, Peter Parker? I-I was wondering if it was possible that I could talk on the phone to D-Doctor Tony Stark, please? It’s... it’s really urgent, like _super_ urgent, so p-please, if you have any way that I could connect to talk to him, th-that would be _really_  appreciated.” He rambled, trying not to let his breathing get too panicked.

”Hi, Peter. It sounds like you’re upset. Tell me what is going on.” The receptionist, Clint said and began tapping on his computer to get the boy’s file up on the screen. He also sent a quick text to Tony that a former patient of his was calling.

 “I-I... It’s a long story, but, uhm, s-something bad happened to my aunt a-and now I don’t have anyone home w-with me and I j-just needed someone to call who would know what to do. I-Is there any way you could help me call him, maybe? Please?” He asked, fidgeting on the couch.

”You’re home alone?” Clint asked just to be sure as he checked Peter’s file for risks of self destructive behaviour. He found none except the lack of eating and personal hygiene notes in the file. ”I’m afraid I cannot let you talk to a doctor here unless they think you need to. But, tell me more of what’s going on. Is there a family member you can call?”

Peter bit down on his bottom lip hard enough for the metallic taste of blood to seep onto his tongue when the receptionist, Barton, told him that he couldn’t speak to a doctor. He held the handset a little ways away from him so he could take a deep breath, and then pulled it back. “N-No, I don’t have any other family members except her. Please, _please_  let me speak to Doctor Stark. I- I know you’re only d-doing your job, but I _need_  to speak to him right now, sir. I c-can’t...” He had to wrench the phone away from himself as tears began to build up at the thought of being left alone in the apartment while May was in the ER. He had no idea how long she’d be there, how serious her injuries were. He knew nothing.

It wasn’t the first time Clint had heard a former patient sob at the other end of the phonecall, nor would it be the last time. He was about to continue with the strict protocol, but then there was a knock at the door and Tony stepped in. ”Let me speak to him.” The doctor demanded and took the phone from the receptionist. ”Peter? It’s Doctor Stark.” Tony said as he went to a corner in the lobby for some privacy.

Peter was about to give up hope and put the phone down, but the familiar baritone voice on the other end of the line had him gripping tightly to the phone. “Stuh-Stuh-Stark, it’s... it’s M-May, she- she’s been hurt, she’s b-been attacked at work, sh-she’s in the ER and- and- and- I’m h-home alone and I d-don’t know what to do, a-and we got into a f-fight last night a-and now she’s hurt and that w-was the last thing we talked about and what if-“ Peter’s stuttering and stammering was almost incomprehensible, gripping tightly to the phone like a lifeline. In a way, it _was_  a lifeline.

 _Hadn’t Peter gone through enough_ , Tony wondered and cursed the whole world and whatever God he vaguely believed in when he heard Peter’s teary explanation. ”Okay, okay, slow down, Peter. Take some deep breaths for me, yeah?” Tony instructed as he began debating what to do. He needed to do something, that was clear, even though all the guidelines forbid him from doing so. However, he did not pay those any mind and listened closely to Peter’s breaths.

 “Br-Breathing, right, yeah...” Peter nodded, swallowing thickly and beginning to try and steady his breathing. In, and out. In, and out. His breathing was still shaky from crying, but he breathed as deeply as he could to settle his pounding heart in his chest. “I- I- I didn’t think you’d p-pick up, th-the man said that doc-doctors don’t t-talk on the phone.” He said, still trying to steady his breathing.

”Yeah, there’s all sorts of rules, but don’t mind that now. I’m here. So tell me again what happened?” Tony instructed.

 “You’re here. You’re here.” Peter parroted, like he was trying to calm himself down. “I-I just got a call from wh-where May works, ‘n this lady said that... that there had been a drunk guy at the ward and that they’d attacked a bunch of p-people and May was one of them, and that she h-had to be taken in an ambulance to the ER. The lady didn’t... didn’t say how b-badly May was hurt, just that the h-hospital will call back to t-tell me more at some point.” He explained.

Tony should have asked Peter if he had anyone to call, but that would be a stupid question considering he had called here, which probably meant he had no one else to call. Thinking for few seconds, Tony came to a decision and thought fuck it. ”What’s your address? I’m coming to you.”

 “M-My address?” Peter blinked a couple of times. “It’s, uh, 48 93rd Avenue, Apartment 7. I-I can just buzz you in when you get here.” He said, and immediately began to panic. Shit, what was Stark gonna even do here? Should he clean up? No, he decided, Stark wouldn’t care about that.

”All right, just sit tight and I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” Tony said and was about to end the conversation, but then halted. ”Is that okay?”

Peter was so caught up in his own head that he didn’t hear the question at first. “Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. That’s- That’s fine, Doctor. I’ll s-see you soon.” He said, before hanging the phone up.

Shit.


	54. 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony takes peter home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everybody say "thank you new far from home trailer" for making me (richie) so depressed that i had to post the new chapter a few hours early so that we have some of that sweet sweet starker reunion juice
> 
> also follow me on twitter cos i made a marvel stan account finally: twitter.com/starksunflower

Peter looked around his living room, the gravity of the situation not quite hitting him yet, and he didn’t know what to do. What he did know was that Doctor Stark was coming to the flat, and that was enough to get him to get up off the couch and begin to pace the entire apartment impatiently. At one point he even left the apartment to walk up and down the corridor outside, before heading back inside. He eventually took to sitting by his bedroom window so that he could look out and watch for the car that Stark drove, as an indication that he was here.

Tony broke the speed limit a few times while driving to get Peter. He passed a police car, but they did not stop him, which he was relieved about, but at the same time angry that they hadn’t stopped him because suddenly the gravity of what he was doing hit him.

He was going to a patient’s home outside of work.

This was no longer work, it was private, and it was strictly forbidden to have contact with patients in private.

But, he could not turn back now as the apartment came into view and Tony parked outside. Stepping out, he headed to the door and pressed the call button for apartment 7 with his heart pounding in his chest.

The moment Peter saw the man’s car down the street, he leapt up from his chair and legged it to the living room, where he sat right next to the caller box with his leg bouncing against the floor. He was expecting the buzz, but it still made him jump a little. “Fr-Front door’s unlocked.” He said into the box, and pressed the button that opened the main doors to the building. He then jumped up to unlock the front door of the apartment and leave it slightly ajar so that Stark didn’t have any problems getting in. With that, he took a deep breath and headed back to his room to grab Spidey.

Heading inside once he heard the door unlock, Tony practically ran inside and searched for apartment number 7. Running up one flight of stairs, he found the right apartment and found the door to be slightly ajar. Stepping inside, Tony called out carefully and closed the door behind him. ”Peter?” The apartment was dark and the doctor could hardly see anything, so he squinted his eyes and studied the space carefully.

When Peter heard the front door swing open and then closed, his heart leapt out of his chest. He headed out of his room, Spidey clutched in his hand, and saw the outline of the doctor stood in the living room. He leaned forward and flicked the light on so that both of them could see properly. He could immediately see that worry was etched into the man’s face, and that only made him wonder what _he_  looked like. “T-Tony.” He stammered, nervously fidgeting where he stood.

When the light was switched on, Tony immediately caught Peter’s figure with his eyes. For a second, he was frozen in place, overwhelmed with... love? No, no, no. He was just here to take care of the boy, for now, Tony convinced himself, but his body took over and he headed over to Peter. ”Peter...” Tony said quietly and embraced the boy.

Peter accepted the hug graciously, dropping his stuffie to wrap his arms around the man. He buried his face into the crook of Stark’s neck and instantly burst into tears. It was like a dam had broken inside of him, the pent up emotion from the last week and the added heartbreak of what had happened to May leaving Peter a sobbing mess that clung to the doctor like his life depended on it. He didn’t let go, _refused_  to let go of the doctor for a very long time. Having their bodies pressed together like this was the safest Peter had felt all week.

Tony couldn’t quite believe how nicely Peter fit in his arms. It was like they became one while they held each other so tightly. So tight that Tony could feel Peter’s heart hammering against his own chest. ”Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here now, you’re safe.” Tony murmured and rubbed a hand up and down Peter’s back while he cried. The doctor cursed the world and whatever God once more as he felt anger pool in his gut when he listened to Peter’s heartbreaking sobs.

Peter could only cry harder, his face screwed up hopelessly and his fists gripping the back of Stark’s shirt as he tightened his hug. Bit by bit, he began to calm down as he steadied himself against the warm weight of Stark’s body against his own. Even the smell of the man’s cologne was enough for his heart to slow down just a little bit. “I-I-I...” Peter tried to speak, but he was crying and hiccuping so much that it was almost incomprehensible. “I-I mi-missed you, s-so- so much, I-I...” He broke down again, unable to keep talking.

_I missed you too_ , Tony wanted to say back, but held onto his professionalism still. ”I’m here now, I’m here. You’re safe, Peter, it’s okay.” He repeated again and continued to comfort Peter while he cried. He did not say much, but simply just held Peter close and muttered little comforting phrases over and over.

After a few more minutes of hugging, Peter flinched backwards so that they could let go of each other. The boy huffed a shaky breath, wiping his hoodie sleeve against his face and running his fingers through his hair as he tried to recover. “I- I didn’t think you’d... you’d ever come here. The place looks like shit.” He tried to joke, looking around the living room a little hopelessly and then back at the doctor.

Tony let go of Peter when he moved back, although he would like to hold him forever to be sure that the boy was all right. ”That’s all right, I don’t really care honestly.” The doctor chuckled back before thinking about what to do next. ”How about you stay at my place?” Tony asked before he could think better of it.

Peter blinked a couple of times. “A-At your place? Your house?” He asked. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna... don’t wanna intrude, like, that’s _your_  house, I don’t...” The boy rambled, fumbling with his hands as he looked at the doctor.

”Peter, it’s all right. Otherwise I wouldn’t have asked, okay?” Tony said with a light chuckle when Peter became flustered. ”So, do you want to? And then I’ll look after you and we’ll call the hospital in the morning.” The doctor suggested with a smile.

Peter nodded immediately, but then was taken aback at how quickly he jumped at the opportunity. _Way to be casual about it, Parker_. His eyes darted around the room, and then he looked over in the direction of his bedroom. “I... I should probably pack a bag, then.” He mumbled, and slowly stepped towards his bedroom. “You can, uhm, you can come with me, if you want. If you don’t wanna be left standing in the living room waiting.” He said, when he looked back and realised that Stark was still standing where he was.

”Sure.” Tony shrugged and followed Peter to what presumably was his room. The doctor stopped by the doorway, however, as not to intrude too much, but eyed Peter as he began to gather some clothes. The boy’s room was a little messy, but that was to be expected from a young adult. It looked cozy and it looked so much like _Peter’s._ ”Remember to bring your meds.” Tony reminded with a smile.

Peter blushed a little as he stepped into his room and realised just how _nerdy_  it looked. Star Wars posters on the walls, comics lining his bookshelves, and even small collector’s figurines littering his desk. He also tried to ignore the fact that his room was so messy, that was something he could deal with another time. He gathered up some of his clothes and shoved them into his old bag, the same one he had used for when he went to the facility. He picked up his mobile phone off of his desk, and his eyes were briefly drawn to the leopard drawing that he had stuck up on his wall above his desk. “Oh, shit, my meds, right.” He muttered under his breath, and headed out of his room, ducking under the doctor’s arm as he headed to the bathroom to pick up his meds and his toothbrush.

While Peter dashed into the bathroom, Tony lingered by the doorway and looked over the room again. For some reason, it felt very intimate to see the boy’s room and he felt important and wanted for having the privilege to see it. The doctor chuckled softly under his breath when he saw the drawing he and Peter had made together. It made him feel all warm inside to see that Peter had hung it up, and in a spot where he would see it often.

Peter soon returned with his medication and its box in one hand, and his toothbrush in the other. He ducked back under Stark’s arm to enter his room again and shoved his toiletries into the front of his bag, and then paused to look around the room to see what else he would need. He leaned forward to turn off the PS4, which he had left on while he was on the phone earlier, and then finally stood up with his bag slung over one shoulder. “Should we... go?” He asked, looking back at the doctor.

”You got Spidey too?” Tony checked just in case before making his way to the living room again.

 “I think I left him in the living room.” Peter replied, following the man out of his bedroom, turning the light off and shutting the door behind him as he did so. Sure enough, once they had gotten to the living room, Spidey was on the carpeted floor where Peter had dropped him. The boy quickly bent down to grab him and held him tightly to his chest, his fingers tangling and untangling in the spider’s fur. “‘m... ‘m ready now, I think.” He mumbled, looking around the room once more to check he hadn’t forgotten anything.

”Then, let's go. It’s getting late.” Tony said with a smile and headed to the door. Once Peter had locked the door and they were good to go, Tony took the boy’s hand in his and lead the way out of the apartment building.

Peter nodded, following the man out of the apartment. He quickly turned the lights off before he left, and turned back once they were in the corridor to lock his front door. When he turned back to face the doctor, his heart skipped a beat when the man reached for his hand. It was strangely comforting how snugly his hand fit against Stark’s, and he didn’t let go of the man’s hand until they had gotten to his car. Peter didn’t have a lot, so they didn’t need to open the trunk, and Peter slid into the front passenger’s seat.

As Tony pulled back onto the road, he pondered on what he should ask Peter about, but after a quick glance at him, the doctor let him be. Peter seemed to be in his own world and he hoped at his presence was comfort enough for the boy.

”I’ll take care of you, Peter.” Tony said into the darkness, but he wasn’t sure if his voice was loud enough to be heard properly over the roar of the Alfa Romeo engine.

As Peter sank into the car seat, he tried his best to switch his mind off, but found that it was no use. His head was filled with thoughts of May hospitalised, and guilt of having such a terrible argument with her as their last conversation before she was hurt. He could feel his face screwing up as if he were about to cry, and so tried to relax again. He rested his elbow against the car windowsill and put his chin in the palm of his hand, so that he could gaze out at the streetlights that zipped by while Stark drove. He was so in his own head that he didn’t hear the man’s mutterings at all, he simply sat and let the world pass them by.

After a 10 minute drive, they got closer to Tony’s neighbourhood and he pulled up in the driveway. He didn’t bother parking in the garage, just in case they would have to leave in a hurry. ”Here we are.” The doctor announced as he shut the engine off and turned to Peter, but did not step out of the car just yet.

Peter blinked slowly at the house in front of them. It was... nice. Not too big, but obviously bigger than Peter’s apartment. “Casa de Stark.” He said quietly, leaning forward in his seat so he could look out of the windshield at the two storeys of the house. He leaned back a few seconds later and looked over at the doctor.

”Yes.” Tony chuckled and went to leave the car. ”I don’t stay here much though, just to sleep at night mostly.” The doctor said as he led the way up to the door and unlocked it. He let Peter enter first and look around a bit.

Peter also got out of the car, hauling his bag out from where it had been placed between his legs in the front seat. He followed the man up to the front door, and smiled quickly as thanks when Stark let him enter the house first. The house was pretty modern-looking on the inside, and it was clear that Stark was telling the truth when he said he used the house to sleep at night. “This place is cool...” he said, his eyes sweeping widely from floor to ceiling.

”Yeah, thanks. Here, I’ll show you around.” Tony said and headed into his home, showing the living room first and then the kitchen. It was all simply designed and most of the surfaces were either white or a light grey. Most of the decorations had eart tones with some hints of colour. But, Tony did not care much about how pretty it looked, he just needed it to be practical.

Peter nodded, picking his bag up off the floor to take it with him as he followed the man into the living room. He looked around each room briefly, but they all followed the same theme of decoration so it wasn’t like he needed to pay close attention. The only thing he noticed was that none of the rooms in the house looked particularly _lived_  in. Like Stark had bought the house to use it for its bedroom. That made Peter pout a little.

”The guest room is upstairs, so we can head up there.” Tony explained and gestured to the stairs. He went first and showed the hallway that had four doors. ”The guest room is down to the left and right across is the bathroom. Then here’s the office and my room.” He said to the first door on the right. ”Do you want to head straight to bed? You look exhausted.” Tony said with a little smile and lifted a hand to push a stray curl out of Peter’s tired and red eyes.

Peter followed the man up the stairs. He surveyed all four doors, but his eyes kept coming back to the one that lead to Stark’s room. He couldn’t help wondering what was in there - probably nothing exciting, but Peter was curious regardless. He held still as Stark brushed the hair out of his eyes, and shrugged. “Think so... Th-Thank you so much for... for this.” He said, gesturing vaguely to the hallway and to his bag. “Y-You didn’t have to...”

”You’re welcome, Peter. I’m happy to have you here. You can just head in and get into bed. There’s a towel and everything you need in the closet.” Tony said and gestured to the bathroom and then the guest room. ”I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” He smiled before heading off. The doctor debated whether he should give Peter a kiss, but all of a sudden that seemed too weird.

Peter nodded as the man explained where everything was. He desperately wanted to give him another hug, but by the time he had come to the decision to do so, Stark was gone. He sighed, turning and heading into the guest bedroom. Just like the rest of the rooms, it was practical, modern and completely unused, and Peter put his bag down in the corner of the room before examining the place. He headed to the closet and found the towel that Stark had been talking about, and decided that he wanted to take a shower before he got into bed, so he headed for the bathroom.

Tony headed downstairs and opened the fridge. He wanted to get a beer, or two, but then he remembered that they might have to head out in the middle of the night. He remembered that Peter had said the hospital would call him, but he had no idea when. He settled for a glass of water and went to sit by the kitchen island. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with a groan. Tony had a patient of his in his home and he needed some time to process that.

It took a couple of minutes for Peter to work out how to work the shower, but once he did he stepped under the warm spray of the shower and sighed in relief. He stood there for a few minutes, simply letting the water wash over him while he calmed down from the evenings events. He eventually washed his body and his hair, and stepped out of the shower into the now cold bathroom. He dried himself with the towel, then folded it up and put it to one side. His teeth chattered as he brushed them, and he quickly ran through the corridor to get back to the guest bedroom where he had laid out his pyjamas. Usually he didn’t wear pyjamas, but because he was staying at somebody’s house, he wore them on this occasion.

He was staying at Doctor Stark’s house.

This was Doctor Stark’s guest room, and he was currently sat on Doctor Stark’s guest bed pulling on his pyjama bottoms.

Holy shit.

”What the fuck...” Tony grumbled to himself and rested his head in his hands, staring at the marble of the kitchen island. Had he just kidnapped someone? That’s what it would look like to the police for sure. The doctor barely realised how his thoughts were spiralling out of control and making up ridiculous scenarios. No, no, he was simply looking out for the boy while his aunt was in the hospital. What was morally wrong with that?

Once Peter had gotten changed into his pyjamas, he sat on the edge of the bed for several minutes thinking. What was Stark doing downstairs? He should probably go and check on him. He grabbed Spidey from where the stuffie was laid on top of his bag and headed out of the guest room and down the stairs. His appearance of being dressed in Star Wars pyjamas, messy and unkempt hair from the shower, and Spidey clutched in one hand made him look 8 rather than 18, but he didn’t care as he poked his head into the kitchen. “D-Doctor Stark? Are you... Are you okay?”

Tony raised his head when he heard Peter calling for him and smiled at the adorable sight. Peter looked so soft and cuddly in his pyjamas and with his stuffie. He had a hard time thinking he was 18. ”Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Just tired is all.” He said and put his glass in the large sink. ”Everything okay?” He asked and came over to Peter, studying him closely for any signs of distress.

 “Yeah, I’m... I’m fine. Are you thinking about... about calling the hospital? Cos the lady told me that they’d call me tomorrow morning with more information, so... you don’t have to worry about that.” He said quietly, looking up at the doctor. “And, uhm...” Peter’s voice dropped into a mumble at this point. “I wanted to say goodnight.” He admitted, a light pink colour beginning to spread across his face.

”Ah, I see.” Tony nodded and nodded. ”Then we’ll wait for that.” At the mention of a good night, Tony felt his heart swell a little. It was a small gesture, but it felt domestic and nice. ”Good night, Peter. Now head off, you need your sleep, mister.” Tony said with a chuckled and waved his hand at the stairs.

“G’night, Doctor.” Peter said quietly, and before the man could stop him, he tiptoed up to press a small kiss to Stark’s cheek. He turned on his heel and fled after that, climbing the stairs two at a time before Stark could try and call for him to come back. He retreated into the guest bedroom and shut the door behind him, looking at the double bed in front of him. He’d never slept in a double bed before, and so took glee in spreading out completely across it, sliding under the covers and sinking into the pillows. Even despite the stress he felt about what was going on with May, he fell asleep about three thoughts after his head hit the pillow.

Tony was a little stunned by the kiss despite making out with the boy just two weeks ago. Still, he liked it very much and watched with a little smile as Peter practically fled to his guest room. After shutting the lights downstairs and making sure the door was locked, the doctor climbed upstairs too to get ready for bed.


	55. 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony visit may.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we both have tumblrs btw.
> 
> rafni: professional-benaddict.tumblr.com  
> richie: trufaxz.tumblr.com

When Peter awoke the next morning, it took him several seconds to realise where he was.

Right, he was in his doctor’s house.

In his guest room.

Sleeping in the guest bed.

He arose from the bed and groggily stumbled towards the door, leaving Spidey behind on the bed. He was immediately blinded by sunlight when he left the room, as sunlight streamed in through the window of the corridor. He made his way downstairs, and then headed to the kitchen to see Stark... fully dressed?

Shit, what time was it?

Peter must look like a sleepy mess, and he raised one hand to stifle a yawn. “M-Morning.”

Tony set his cup of coffee down and listened as Peter made his way down the stairs. It was odd to have so much noise in the house all of a sudden. The doctor tried not to laugh when a sleepy looking Peter came into view. He looked beyond adorable. ”Morning. Did you sleep well?” Tony asked with a smile.

Peter shrugged with one shoulder in response to his question. “Slept okay. ‘m still-“ He interrupted his own sentence with a yawn. “‘m still kinda sleepy though.” He scratched at the back of his head, and then rubbed at his eyes to try and clear them of sleep dust. He padded forward, his bare feet making little noises as he walked across the kitchen tiles, and hopped up on the stool opposite the doctor. “What- What time is it?” He asked. He also leaned forward to see what was in Stark’s cup, and scrunched his nose up in disgust when he realised it was black coffee.

Tony watched closely at all of Peter’s little gestures and found that he wanted to cherish all of them. From the shuffling feet, to the scratching of the head and the rubbing of the eyes. He finally chuckled at Peter’s last little thing where he leaned forwards to see what was in his cup. ”It’s just after 10, so you haven’t missed much.” The doctor said with a smile and got up. ”Do you want some juice or water?” He asked the boy, going to get a tall glass from the cupboard.

 “Oh, okay.” Peter sat back on the stool, though he still watched the cup of coffee warily. “Uhm... just water, please.” He said, swivelling in his seat to watch the man move about the kitchen. “‘m surprised you even stock juice here.” He teased, a lazy yet tired smile spreading across his face.

Tony snorted at Peter’s cheeky comment, glad to find that the boy did not seem too worried about his aunt. ”I still eat breakfast here.” The doctor said and got a glass of water, placing it in front of the boy. ”What would you like for breakfast? You need to take your meds with food.” Tony reminded.

Peter winced at the mention of food, the underlying feeling of nausea returning. “I-I don’t want anything, I... I feel too sick to eat right now.” He said, awkwardly shuffling on the chair. He swung his legs back and forth off the stool, biting down on the inside of his cheek as he watched the doctor.

Tony frowned at Peter’s answer and reached his hand forward to feel the boy’s forehead for a fever, but felt none. ”Sick? What do you mean?”

Peter pouted when Stark immediately went to check his forehead, but didn’t duck away from his hand. “It just happens sometimes. It’s when I get really anxious, my appetite just goes and I can’t eat anything. I can only eat really small amounts, and even sometimes that’s too much.” He explained.

Tony frowned at Peter’s explanation. ”You didn’t mention that during our sessions.” The doctor pointed out, but Peter nor he got to say anything more before a phone went off upstairs.

Peter opened his mouth to explain, but then he heard his phone go off and he completely ignored Stark in favour of legging it out of the kitchen to grab his phone before it stopped ringing. He ran up the stairs two at a time and burst into the guest room, rummaging around in his bag for his phone. He pulled it out and clicked the “accept call” button. “H-Hello?”

”Is this Peter Benjamin Parker?” A male voice at the other end of the line asked. Tony headed up the stairs after Peter as he was sure they were calling from the hospital like promised. However, the doctor stood in the hallway to give the boy some privacy.

 “Speaking! Is... Is this about May?” He asked. He also began to pace the room back and forth, back and forth, so that he could have an outlet for his nervous energy.

”I’m calling from the hospital and yes, it is about your aunt. She is stable now and you can come see her if you wish.” The male nurse informed simply. Tony could hear Peter pacing back and forth and waited anxiously to hear what was going on with May.

 “She is?! Oh thank God, thank fucking God, thank you so much sir, thank you! C-Can you tell her I’ll be over as soon as possible? I mean, I dunno if _y_ _ou_ can tell her that but, y-you know, make sure- make sure someone tells her. Thank you, thank you so much, okay, bye!” Peter rambled, before hanging up the call and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

May was okay.

His hands shook violently and his breathing took a while to become steady, but he knew he had to leave as soon as possible. He had to go and see her.

Tony heard all of what Peter had said and sighed in relief when he heard the boy’s tone. May was okay and that meant Peter would be okay too. Knocking on the half open door, Tony stepped into the room and found Peter sitting on the bed. ”So, what did the hospital say?” He asked.

Peter looked up when Stark came in. “Th-They said that May was stable, ‘n that I can go and see her in the hospital. I-I-I wanna go, I wanna go right now.” He said, leaping up and looking through his bag for a shirt to change into. He didn’t even care that Stark was still in the room, he just turned so that his back was facing the man as he took his Star Wars pyjama shirt off and pulled on his usual science pun t-shirt instead.

”I’ll take you, no problem.” Tony said with a relieved chuckle, but blushed a little when Peter suddenly began changing in front of him. Swallowing thickly, the doctor turned around so that his back was to the boy.

 “You will? Thank you!!” The boy squealed, trying to get his arms through the shirt as quickly as possible. He grabbed a pair of jeans and some boxers from his bag too, and sat behind the bed to pull them on so that Stark couldn’t see him. Once he had gotten changed, he pulled some socks on and tapped the man on the shoulder to signal he was ready to go. “I left my shoes in the hallway downstairs.” He said before Stark could point it out.

”Right, right. Lets go then.” Tony smiled and watched the boy hurry to the door. The doctor followed a step behind, still a little flustered over seeing Peter half naked. Gathering a few things and getting a coat, Tony headed to the car with Peter close behind. ”What else did they tell you on the phone?” Tony asked as he started the engine and rolled onto the road.

Peter hopped down the stairs and crouched down to slide his Vans on, and then jogged to keep up with Stark who was already on his way to the car. As they got into the car and rolled onto the road, Peter was almost vibrating with nerves. “They just, uhm, just said she was stable and that we could go see her.” He said, gazing out the window as they made their way to the hospital.

”Yeah, they can’t tell much over the phone, but we’ll know more soon.” Tony said and gave Peter a smile as he headed to the hospital. It was a short drive and soon enough they pulled into the parking lot.

Peter nodded, his eyes fixed on the road in front of them as if staring at it would somehow make the journey go quicker. He almost gave himself whiplash with the speed at which he fumbled to take his seatbelt off and got out of the car. He was impatiently bouncing on the spot as he waited for Stark to also get out of the car, and then he took off in the direction of the hospital reception. He arrived at the desk out of breath and nervous. “Hi, m-my name is Peter Benjamin Parker, m-my aunt, May Parker, is in the ER and I got a phone call about 45 minutes ago saying that I could come see her?”

Tony followed Peter inside the hospital a step behind him, but he let the boy talk to the receptionist by himself. ”Yes, let me check.” The woman behind the desk said and tapped on her computer for a minute before smiling at Peter. ”She’s in room E303. Head to the lift which says E and then head to the third floor.” The woman instructed.

 “E303, E303, I gotta remember that.” Peter nodded. “Thank you so much!” He said, before turning back and grabbing Stark by the wrist. “Come on, lets go!” He whined, dragging the man in the direction of the emergency elevator. They stepped in together and Peter pressed the button for the third floor impatiently, waiting for the doors to slide shut. “Ah, shit! I-I-I should’ve... should’ve brought her f-flowers or something, fuck!” He panicked, looking down at his empty hands and then up at Stark. “Y-You don’t think she’ll mind, will she?”

Tony chuckled a little at how Peter dragged him over to the elevator. ”I think all she needs is to see you, Peter, don’t worry.” Tony assured as they made their way up.

 “Yeah, but... did you _see_  some of the bouquets people had out there? It was like they had pulled up a whole garden! Next time, next time I’ll bring flowers.” Peter nodded to himself, and finally the doors opened to the third floor. He headed out of the elevator and looked both ways, searching for E303. “Where is it, where... there!” He said, pointing at a sign that had E303 written across it. He came up to the door and took a couple of deep breaths, glancing over at Stark for reassurance, and then slowly pushed the door open. “M-May? I-It’s me, it’s Peter.”

Tony gave Peter a brave smile before holding the door open so that the boy could step in. He debated quickly on whether he should go in too and came to that he should in case Peter panicked. May was laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and monitors while she dozed. She was dressed in a hospital gown and opened her eyes slowly when she heard noises. ”Peter...?”

Peter felt his stomach drop when he stepped in and saw his aunt. She’d never looked this weak before, and Peter shook as he took another step closer to the bed. “Y-Yeah, May, it’s... it’s me. I-I-I’m so sorry, May, I-I...” He could feel himself tearing up but he tried to stay calm for May’s sake. “C-Can I pull up a chair?” He asked, looking in the corner of the room where a couple of chairs were stood next to a small table.

Tony stepped forward and got Peter a chair so he could sit with his aunt. He then took a step back and let the two of them talk. ”Oh, baby, it’s good to see you.” May said quietly, reaching a hand out to stroke at her nephew’s cheek. ”Have you been eating? And your meds?”

Peter grabbed the chair that Stark brought forward and sank into it, unable to take his eyes off of his aunt. He leaned forward a little so she could reach him, and when she dropped her hand from his face he held it in both of his own. “I-I’m fine, May, I’m okay. I-I haven’t eaten today, but only cos t-the phone call came through this morning before I could eat anything so I wanted to come and s-see you as soon as possible.” He said, squeezing May’s hand gently. “Y-You’re asking after me, after all this? Wh-What happened?”

”Oh, I don’t remember much... I just- was working and then some screaming or something and then- I’m here.” May explained with a light chuckle and gestured to the room she was in.

 “Fuck...” Peter said quietly, but the explanation didn’t do much to settle the storm that was taking over his heart and stomach. “Y-You’ll be okay. You’ll be... You’ll be alright.” He said, though he wasn’t entirely sure who that was directed at, whether it was for May’s benefit or his own. He glanced behind him to see Stark standing there watching them, and Peter smiled a little uneasily at him.

”Of course, baby. I’ll be up and running in no time.” May smiled weakly before following where Peter was looking. Only now did she notice the other person in the room and smiled a little. ”Stark, what are you doing here?”

Good question.

What was he doing here?

”I uhm- I’m looking after Peter.” Tony explained shortly, but May seemed satisfied and nodded.

”That’s good, that’s good. Little baby does need looking after.” May chuckled weakly and squeezed Peter’s hands in her own.

Peter turned back when May spoke again, but quickly huffed. “Hey! ‘m not a _baby_!” He said, sticking his bottom lip out in a childish pout which made May laugh quietly. “But yeah, he’s... he drove me here ‘n he’s lookin’ out for me.” He said quietly, looking back at the man with a soft smile on his face.

May chuckled at how defensive Peter got and it made her feel so much better than any amount of pain medication could. ”You kinda are...” She smiled fondly. Tony returned the smile, but caught onto how exhausted the woman was looking. He didn’t know for sure, but he would bet that May had gone through surgery during the night.

”Peter, I think we should let your aunt rest.” The doctor suggested, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Peter opened his mouth to argue, but faltered when Stark’s hand found itself on his shoulder. Swallowing thickly, he nodded. “Y-You’ll be okay, May. And... and I’m sorry for... for Saturday.” He said, not explaining more than that. He held the woman’s gaze for a moment, and squeezed her hand lightly. “I love you, May.” He said quietly, smiling at her before getting up with Stark and heading to the door. When he looked back, he saw she had already dozed off to sleep, and he realised that she must have really been exhausted.

”She’ll be okay, kiddo.” Tony assured as he closed the door after them gently. ”And how about you? How are you doing?” The doctor asked, placing his hand back on Peter’s shoulder.

Peter wished he could have stayed longer, but Stark was closing the door and he had no choice but to make his way to the elevator. “I’m... I’m fine.” He mumbled, sniffling hopelessly. “I just don’t like seeing her so... weak. She’s never like that.” He said quietly, with his eyes looking down at the floor.

”I understand, Peter.” Tony said and followed Peter to the elevator. ”How about we stop for some food in the canteen and then see if we can find a doctor who can tell us more, hm?” Tony suggested when the elevator arrived and he stepped inside with Peter.

Peter grimaced again at the mention of food. “I-I’m not hungry.” He lied, avoiding Stark’s gaze when they stepped into the elevator. He pressed the button to go down to the ground floor, and fell silent.

”Something to drink at least then. Come on, I'm buying.” Tony said when the elevator made a stop at the second floor as two others were going down as well.

Peter thought about it, and ultimately nodded. He could do with a Coke. He shuffled back a little bit to let the two other people into the elevator and found himself pressed against the doctor, which made him squeak in embarrassment. He looked down at the floor and stayed silent for the entire elevator ride down, and when the doors opened he quickly stepped forward to clear some space between them. “Which ways the canteen...” He mumbled, looking one way then the other in search of it.

”Over here.” Tony said and gestured to the hallway to the left. He had been at the hospital plenty times concerning patients of his and sometimes for consults.

 “Right, right...” Peter swivelled on his heels and skipped over to catch up with the doctor as they made their way to the canteen. Once they had gotten there, Peter went over to the mini fridge and picked up a Coke. He handed it to the doctor with his patented puppy-dog begging eyes, and even jutted his bottom lip out for good measure to get the man to buy it for him.

Tony did not approve of Peter’s choice, but took it nonetheless and went to pay for it. The boy needed some sugar and it would do until they got back to his place and he could cook for him. ”Now, shall we head to the reception and find May’s doctor?” Tony suggested and handed the can to Peter.

The boy smiled and muttered a “thank you” when the can was handed to him. He cracked it open and took a sip, and instantly shivered at how cold the drink was. He took a couple more sips before nodding at the man’s suggestion, and headed off to the reception to find May’s doctor.

Tony stood back again as he technically had no business being at the hospital with Peter, besides being a driver. Still, he very much wanted to know what Peter was saying to the receptionist. What if he had a breakdown?

Peter approached the reception desk slower than he had done the first time, and a quick glance over at Stark who gave him an encouraging nod made Peter pluck up the courage to ask. “H-Hi. I-I’m Peter, I was here a little while ago. I was wondering if it was possible to speak to my aunt’s doctor at all? My aunt is, uhm, May Parker.” He said, though he felt a little silly for repeating it again even though he had seen the receptionist 20 minutes ago.

”Yes, yes, I remember.” The receptionist smiled and tapped on her computer again. ”Can you wait over there? The doctor will be over as soon as she is free.” She assured the boy and pointed to the waiting area next to the reception.

 “Over...” Peter followed the woman’s finger with his eyes to the seated waiting area. “Oh, over there. O-Okay, thank you.” He said politely, and then looked back at Stark and gestured for the man to follow him. “The lady said we have to wait here ‘til the doctor comes.” Peter explained as he took a seat and patted the one next to him for Stark to sit down. He sipped a little more of his Coke, hiccuping when the bubbles came up through his nose and made him sneeze.

Tony went to sit down next to Peter and laughed a little when he hiccuped and sneezed. ”Take it easy, kiddo.” The doctor chuckled and patted Peter’s shoulder before sitting back. He hoped May’s doctor would arrive soon so that he could get Peter back to his place for some food and his meds.

Peter frowned at the doctor and stuck his tongue out at him playfully, continuing to take small sips of his drink until it stopped burning his nose and making him hiccup. By the time he had finished the drink, he had a little more sugar in his system and so he was a bit more fidgety as he waited for the doctor to show up.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s childish behaviour and took it as a good sign that Peter was in a good mood, despite everything. Another ten minutes passed before a doctor entered the lobby area and came up to them. ”Are you Peter Parker? May Parker’s nephew?” She asked with a friendly smile.

Peter leapt up out of his seat when the doctor approached them. “H-Hi, yeah, that’s me. N-Nice to meet you.” He said politely, sticking his hand out for the doctor to shake. “I was just, uhm, just wondering if we- if _I_ , sorry, could just get maybe some more information about what happened to May? I went to see her a few minutes ago but she was really tired, so... didn’t really get much from her.” He said nervously, glancing over at Stark every so often like he was looking for support.

The doctor shook Peter’s hand with a smile and nodded. ”Yes, that’s why I’m here. I have a meeting room where we can talk more.” She explained before turning to Tony. ”And who are you?” She asked and Tony cleared his throat before speaking. ”Uhm- just a friend.” He explained and the doctor nodded. ”I’m afraid I can only inform family members. Shall we, Peter?” The doctor suggested.

Peter’s heart skipped a beat at that. He knew that Stark was probably just calling them friends because ‘former doctor who made out with my patient every day for two weeks’ was A) a mouthful and B) probably enough to get him fired, but it made Peter a little giddy. When he heard that Stark couldn’t come with them, though, he turned to look at him with a lost expression on his face. He paused for a moment and then turned back to the doctor. “O-Okay, yeah.” He nodded, then turned to Stark. “I’ll... I’ll meet you back here.” He said, before heading off with the doctor in the direction of the meeting room.

”I’ll be right over here.” Tony said with a smile and watched Peter head off with the doctor. ’Friend’, Tony scoffed to himself and rubbed at his face. Was he just that or were they more? Tony sat and pondered on this for 20 minutes until Peter returned, but he did not hear him do so and continued to stare off into the distance.

Peter headed back to the meeting room half an hour later, a little shaken but otherwise alright. He found Stark sat in the same chair he was in before, gazing off into the distance, and the boy gently waved a hand in front of his face to get his attention. “Stark, ‘m back.” He said quietly, amused at just how zoned out the man had been.

Seeing sudden movement in front of him, Tony jumped back to reality and looked up to find Peter standing next to him. ”Oh, hey! So, what did she tell you?” He asked eagerly, studying the boy closely for signs of distress. He looked tired, but relieved, so that was good.

 “She said that, uhm...” Peter took a shaky breath to calm himself before he spoke. “T-The drunk guy that attacked her, he had a knife ‘n... ‘n stabbed her in the abdomen. They said that the knife didn’t get any of her vital organs, so May’s... May’s really lucky for that. She had to have s-surgery last night, ‘n she’s gonna have to stay here for at least... five days? I think that’s how long the doctor said, as a minimum.” He rambled, eventually falling quiet and looking at Stark nervously.

”Oh, Peter.” Tony said and got up. He wanted to hug Peter, but considering they were in public, he just placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder instead. ”Did the doctor say she’ll make a full recovery?” He asked.

 “Uhm... they said it was likely but they weren’t sure, cos she lost a lot of blood when she got... when she got stabbed.” Peter mumbled, grateful for the hand on his shoulder that acted as a weight to ground him. He was getting upset again, he could tell, but he squashed those feelings down so that he didn’t burst into tears in the middle of a public waiting room.

”I see.” Tony said and squeezed Peter’s shoulder to comfort him. ”Shall we head to the car? We can talk more there?” He suggested, seeing how they hardly had any privacy in the waiting room.

Peter nodded wordlessly, and the two of them started heading out of the hospital. Peter hung back and quickly went over to the receptionist to thank her for her help, and then hurried to catch up with Stark who was waiting for him by the door. They found the car in the parking lot and made a beeline for it, and Peter clambered into the front seat once more.

Once they were in the car, which created a little bubble for them to block out the rest of the world, Tony sighed a little. ”What are you thinking about, Peter?” He asked gently, turning to look at the boy next to him.

Peter stared out in front of him, his mind both racing and crawling at the same time. “I... I don’t know. ‘m just... I guess ‘m grateful that the knife didn’t get any... any vital organs, but...” Peter raised a hand to rub at his face, his breath hitching. “I- I had a fight with her before this happened. We... we were arguing about school ‘n it got really bad and... then this happened. She’s m-my only family, if she... what if she died, and that was the last thing we had talked about? I-I-I...” Peter talked aimlessly, still not looking at Stark even though Stark was looking at him.

Tony placed a hand on Peter’s knee to keep him grounded and remind him that he wasn’t alone. ”But, she didn’t die, Peter.” He reminded gently. ”She’s up on the third floor being care for.”

 “I-I _know_ , but... that was all I could think about before we went in to see her. What if she had died, and... and the last conversation we had was me yelling at her to let me go back to school?” Peter whimpered, bringing his hands up to cover his face. “I can’t lose someone else.” He said quietly, and finally the floodgates burst and tears began streaming down his face again, hidden by his cupped hands.

Tony noticed the tears right away, even though he couldn’t see them, but he saw how Peter’s shoulders began shaking and turned in his seat to face the boy properly. ”It’s all right, Peter.” He said quietly, rubbing the boy’s shoulder again and let him cry.

It took a few minutes for Peter to recover, and when he took his hands away from his face there were very clear tear tracks down his cheeks. “Can we... can we go home now? I don’t wanna be here longer than I have to be.” He mumbled, looking up at the hospital building and grimacing.

”Of course.” Tony said after giving one final squeeze to Peter’s shoulder before letting go. ”Did the doctor tell you when you can visit?” He asked as he started the engine and rolled out of the parking lot.

Peter nodded. “She, uhm, she suggested that we come back the day after tomorrow so that May can have a bit more time to recover from her surgery, and then maybe she’ll be more... alert and stuff.” He said, putting on his seatbelt as Stark turned the engine on. He rested his temple against the window and looked out at the scenery that rolled by as they drove back to Stark’s house.

”Okay, then we’ll sort that out. Perhaps drop by your place to pick up some stuff for her? To make her more comfortable?” Tony suggested as he drove back to his place. It was a quiet drive yet again and the doctor let the boy be.

 “Yeah, yeah. That sounds... that sounds good.” Peter nodded, already thinking about what he would bring back for her.


	56. 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony spend the rest of the day together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the IT chapter two trailer came out yesterday and now i'm more hyped for that than i am for FFH whoops - richie

Soon they were back at Stark’s, and Peter hopped out of the car and waited for the doctor to do the same. They headed up the driveway together and went inside, where Peter stood a little awkwardly inside the hallway.

Tony followed Peter inside and hung up his coat. When Peter didn’t move in the hallway, the doctor came up behind him and placed his hand on his shoulder again. ”She’ll be okay, Peter, but right now you need to take care of yourself.” Tony reminded gently.

Peter was gazing at the floor a little hopelessly, but startled when Stark touched him on the shoulder. “Right, right...” he mumbled, though he didn’t sound so sure. He also didn’t move from where he stood, like he was completely confused about what to do now that he wasn’t by May’s side.

”Go get your meds and I’ll make you some food, all right?” Tony instructed and patted Peter’s shoulder. He slipped past the boy and headed to the kitchen to see what he could cook.

 “Stark, wait, I don’t-!” Peter tried to protest against eating, but Stark had already disappeared into the kitchen and the boy was left standing in the hallway. He sighed, then started to climb the stairs to the guest room. Once in there, he pulled his box of medication out of his bag and sat on the side of the bed staring at it. He _really_  didn’t want to eat anything, the anxious feeling in his chest and stomach making that clear, and so he stayed in the guest room. If he didn’t go downstairs, then he wouldn’t have to eat anything, right?

Checking the cupboards and the fridge, Tony found that they had quite a few options and began putting some food supplies on the counter so that Peter could choose. However, when the boy seemed to take a long while to get him medication, the doctor became a little worried. ”Peter?” Tony called out and began making his way upstairs. He found the boy sat on his bed, staring at the bottle of pills in his hand. ”Peter?”

Peter flinched when he heard Stark’s name and he turned to look at the man. “I-I’m not hungry.” He lied, fiddling with the bottle in his hands. He was hungry, starving actually, but he knew it wouldn’t sit well on his stomach if he ate.

”You haven’t eaten anything today.” Tony pointed out and went to crouch down in front of Peter. He placed his hands on his knees and looked up at him with a gentle smile. ”Come on, I’ll make you something good. Something much better than at the facility.” He chuckled.

Peter lifted his gaze to look the doctor in the face, and grimaced a little. “Fine...” He mumbled, leaning back to grab Spidey off the bed so that he had something to hold as they made their way down to the kitchen. Once downstairs and in the kitchen, he hopped up on the stool and set the stuffie on the island, as well as his bottle of pills. “What’cha making?”

”How about an omelette? I can add some ham and onions?” Tony suggested and after Peter nodded, he headed to the fridge to find a few eggs. ”How often do you get nauseous like this? So that you don’t want food?” The doctor asked, getting a frying pan.

Peter shrugged. “Fairly often. It’s all anxiety related, it just makes me feel like I can’t eat anything, and when I do manage to eat something it’s always in really small amounts.” He explained, leaning against the kitchen island as he watched the man move around the space.

”And how long does that last?” Tony asked as he cracked the eggs into the pan. He glanced over at Peter now and then, but kept his focus on the cooking.

 “Depends how bad the anxiety is. I think the longest I’ve had to deal with it was a couple of weeks. I was still kinda... I wasn’t great afterwards but I was able to eat more like I used to.” He said, drumming his fingertips against the island surface. “It really sucks.”

”I see.” Tony said and stirred the ham and onion into the omelette. ”Have you talked to Strange about it?” He asked and glanced over at the boy by the kitchen island.

 “No, not yet.” Peter replied. His mood didn’t drop at the mention of Strange, but he did look up to meet Stark’s gaze. He couldn’t help snorting a little as he imagined the two of them fresh-faced and in med school, getting into all sorts of shit. “My next session with him isn’t til Tuesday.”

”Is it just Tuesdays or?” Tony asked and flipped the omelette. ”You really should have more than one session a week.” The doctor said, wondering if Strange was the best on to refer Peter to after all.

 “No, I see him on Fridays too.” Peter said, leaning forward to take Spidey into his arms. “Tuesdays and Fridays at 11.” He recited, remembering the note on his and May’s fridge. “He, uhm, he told me stories about you from medical school.” He said, grinning at how the tips of Stark’s ears turned pink at that.

”He did what now?” Tony asked, lifting the omelette onto a plate and shut the stove off. He brought the plate over to Peter along with a fork and knife as well as a glass of juice.

Peter muttered a small “thanks” when Stark placed the plate and glass in front of him, but made no movement to actually start eating. “He told me a couple of stories from when you guys were at medical school together. Like the time you had a bet to see who would get away with cheating?”

Tony widened his eyes in response and felt himself grow a little hot. He turned around to put the things back into the fridge. ”He did?” The doctor asked, trying to appear unbothered. _Bastard, bastard, bastard_ , Tony thought to himself and cursed at himself for sending Peter to an old friend of his.

 “Yeah, he said that you both got yelled at by your professor cos you got caught.” The boy snorted, poking at the omelette with the end of his fork. “Also that time that you thought you were gonna do better than him at a test cos he was ill, but then it turned out that he did better than you.” He said, watching the man put the items of food back in the fridge.

”Oh, I’m gonna murder him.” Tony laughed out with a groan after putting everything away. He went to sit opposite Peter and frowned a bit when the boy hadn’t touched his food yet, but did not point it out yet. ”Did he tell you about those times I did better than him, though?”

 “No, weirdly he seemed to leave those parts out.” Peter said, laughing at the man’s reaction. He took a sip of juice but didn’t touch his omelette, still poking it with his fork. His nausea seemed to rear its head every time he looked at it, and he rested the side of his face on his hand as he looked from the food up to the doctor.

Tony chuckled, but didn’t ask more about Strange and what he had been telling Peter. He was more concerned about the boy’s lack of eating and frowned a little. ”Peter, you need to eat something. You’ll feel better once you have some fuel in you.” The doctor encouraged with a smile.

Peter’s face fell, and he looked down at the plate of food in front of him. “I-I can’t, I don’t...” He took another shaky breath, his hands reaching for Spidey and pulling the stuffie into his lap before he spoke again. “I-I can’t, Daddy...” he admitted quietly, his cheeks now burning red and his gaze fixed firmly on the omelette, like he was trying to burn a hole through it by staring at it hard enough.

Tony felt his stomach drop at the title and panicked for a brief second, but his training quickly got to him and he moved to sit next to Peter on the kitchen island. ”What if I help you out a little, hm? You need some yummy food in your tummy.” The doctor said a little cheerfully and gently took the fork from Peter’s hand.

Peter squirmed on his seat when Stark came to sit next to him and he made a whine of complaint, shaking his head so that his curls fell into his eyes. “Nuh uh...” he mumbled, but let the man take the fork from his hand. His bottom lip seemed to be stuck out in a permanent pout and his eyes were wide as he watched the doctor.

”You think it’s poisoned, silly boy?” Tony joked and cut off a bite of the omelette before eating it. ”Hmm, that’s good, if I do say so myself. Now, you try.” The doctor said and picked up another piece and held it up for Peter.

 “ _You’re_  silly!” Peter whined in outrage, warily eyeing the forkful off omelette that was currently hovering in front of his face. He hesitated for a moment, but eventually leaned forward and ate it off the fork. He then sat back, chewing on it a couple of times and swallowing. “‘s good.” He said quietly, his hands playing with Spidey’s fur.

”Told you.” Tony smiled, pleased that he had gotten Peter to eat a mouthful. He just hoped for a few more and that they would stay down. There was also the pills that needed to be taken, but for now he focused on cutting up another piece. ”You think Spidey likes omelette too?” The doctor asked, hoping that Peter would be more cooperative while regressed. He picked up another forkful of the food and offered it to Peter.

Peter scrunched his face up at Stark’s smug tone about his omelette, but leaned forward again and ate the second piece when it was offered to him. “I’unno... he’s not used to human food... what if the egg gets stuck in his fur?” He asked, lifting the stuffie up and placing it on the kitchen island so that it was at their height. He grabbed his juice glass and took another sip, and then placed it back down again.

”Yeah, that could happen. That would suck, wouldn’t it?” Tony said and went along with Peter’s little game, offering the stuffie a bite. ”You want some, mister? Or shall I give this delicious omelette to Peter instead?” The doctor asked the stuffie, looking over at the boy for his reaction.

Peter whined again, shaking his head and using his fingers to pull the bite of omelette off of the fork. He stuffed it into his mouth. “He doesn’t like it.” Peter decided as he chewed on the omelette with his mouth open. He caught Stark’s eye and giggled, swallowing down the bite of food. “He says he’ll stick to eating flies.”

”That sounds fair.” Tony chuckled and let Peter swallow before offering another bite. ”What else does Spidey like to eat? Or does he eat just flies?” The doctor asked. Peter was beginning to get some of that carefree appearence when he was regressed. His shoulders were more laid back, his eyes seemed happier and he smiled a lot easier.

 “‘s just flies, ‘n other bugs like that.” Peter replied, leaning forward to take the next bite of omelette. Even though he still felt anxious, eating like this with Stark felt a lot more manageable, and he couldn’t deny that he felt a bit better when he was regressed. He swung his legs back and forth off the stool, and at one point actually kicked Stark in the shin. He apologised sheepishly, dropping his gaze from the man but still eagerly waiting for his next bit of omelette.

Tony winced at the pain that shot up his leg, but brushed it off. He was just happy that Peter seemed to be feeling better. ”Hmm, does he makes webs and such to catch them?” The doctor asked, giving the boy another bite of food.

 “Yeah! He’s super sneaky, makes webs in the corners of rooms ‘n stuff.” By this point Peter was gladly eating, but he didn’t want Stark to move away or stop feeding him. A warm feeling spread through him at how domestic this was, how close they could be to one another and how happy it made him feel. Bit by bit, the omelette decreased in size until it was gone entirely, and the glass of juice had been finished as well. Peter sat back on his stool, still swinging his legs but not as fervently as before, and gave the doctor a simple smile. “Th-Thank you.”

”You're very welcome, Peter.” Tony smiled and ruffled Peter's hair before getting up and putting the plate and fork aside. ”Just one last thing though.” He said and opened the fridge to pour Peter a bit more juice. ”Your meds.” The doctor said and pointed to the orange bottle.

Peter squealed when Stark ruffled his hair, and tried to get his hair to sit back in place properly but only succeeded in making it more messy. “Huh? Oh, right...” Peter popped the bottle open and took out the medication needed. When Stark returned with a new glass of juice, he placed the meds in his mouth and then swigged some juice to wash it down. He swallowed, and then stuck his tongue out to show the man he had taken them.

”Good boy.” Tony smiled as Peter showed him that he had indeed taken the medication. ”How about you check out the kids section on Netflix?” The doctor suggested as he tried to keep Peter regressed. The boy was much easier to work with in that state and happier it seemed.

 “You have Netflix?!” The boy said excitedly, and hopped off the stool to race to the living room. However, he quickly backtracked and picked Spidey up off the kitchen island. “Nearly forgot Spidey.” He said, then raced back into the living room. Like every other room in the house, it was unused, but Peter didn’t have any problem throwing himself onto the large couch and grabbing the remote on the nearby coffee table.

Tony laughed as he watched Peter race to the living room. ”Yeah, I do.” The doctor said and was very happy that he hadn’t cancelled his subscription after all. He took the remote from the boy and turned the TV system on before handing it back. Even while regressed, Tony was sure that Peter could navigate Netflix.

Peter smiled when he was handed the remote back, and instantly began to click through options, his face screwed up in concentration as he thought about what he wanted to watch. “Hmm...” He had trouble finding something, but then he spotted a cartoon he’d never seen before. “‘The Dragon Prince’? What’s this...?” He pressed play on the first episode and sank back against the couch cushions, his eyes fixed on the screen. He played with Spidey’s fur absentmindedly as he watched, and he squirmed every so often to get more comfortable on the couch.

Once Peter had seemed to find a show to watch, Tony left him to it. He emptied the dishwasher before filling it again. He clean the kitchen counters and the marble table before making some notes in his shopping list. After he was done with everything, he returned to find Peter still on the sofa. ”So, what is this show about?” He asked, sitting next to Peter.

Peter was completely sucked into the show, and he sat happily watching it until Stark came back. When the doctor sat next to him, the boy didn’t hesitate to lean over and place his head on the man’s shoulder, and squirmed so that he was laying slightly sideways with his head resting. “Uhm... there’s these two kingdoms ‘n they’re havin’ a war, and there’s elves and humans and dragons ‘n stuff. I’m only on the second episode though.” He said, his thumb slipping into his mouth and resting between his lips.

Tony smiled fondly when Peter moved to lay his head on his shoulder. He found the warm weight of the boy comforting next to him. ”I see. Dragons are cool, aren’t they?” Tony asked as he also watched.

 “Yeah! Super cool.” Peter nodded in agreement, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen. After a while, and another whole episode, Peter soon became bored. He reached up to grab Stark’s arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, and then took hold of the man’s hand and began to play with it, pushing at his knuckles and bending his fingers to form a fist.

When Peter lost his interest in the animated show, Tony reached for the remote to pause the show. He let Peter play with his hand and watched with a little smile. ”What you up to, silly?” He asked and shook his fist in Peter's smaller hands.

 “‘m not silly! You’re silly!” Peter cried out in response, laughing as he held on to the man’s fist. “‘m bored. Need attention.” He said simply, poking at Stark’s hand and prising his fingers back open so that he could place the open palm against his face and lean into it.

”Yeah, you bored?” Tony asked with a chuckled and moved his hand to tickle Peter under his chin. He cherished the sound of the boy’s giggles and watched him flop down on the couch. ”Would tickles make you less bored?” The doctor asked as he hovered over the boy, holding his hands up as a threat.

Peter tried to bat the man’s hand away from under his chin, but he overbalanced and toppled over onto his back on the couch. When Stark suddenly loomed over him, waggling his fingers with a face like a cartoon villain, the boy’s eyes widened and he immediately began to squirm. “No, you wouldn’t! Y-You can’t!” He giggled, the threat of being tickled already being enough to make him laugh.

”I think they would.” Tony decided with a grin and began tickling Peter’s ribs. The boy squealed with laughter, which made the doctor feel all warm inside. He had missed that laugh so much.

Peter immediately began to laugh when Stark’s wiggling fingers came down to his ribs, and his own hands tried to push helplessly against them to get them to budge. His entire body twisted and turned on the couch, and his face squished itself against the couch cushion as he tried to dodge the man’s hands. “No, no no n-Ahahah!” He squealed, his cheeks a rosy red.

”Are you still bored, Peter?” Tony laughed as he watched Peter try to get away, but couldn’t. ”Huh? Are you?”

Peter continued to squeal, slowly running out of air as Stark tickled the breath out of him. “Y-You’re so- You’re so mean, w-wolfie!” He laughed, his hair getting messier and his cheeks getting redder by the second.

Wolfie! Oh, how he missed that game. Finally showing Peter some mercy, Tony pulled back and watched the boy catch his breath. ”What? I didn’t do anything mean.” He joked with a grin.

Peter took a second to catch his breath, his chest rising and falling heavily as he panted for air. He slowly sat himself up on his elbows and looked towards the doctor, an exaggerated frown on his face. “Y-You did! Y-You know how ticklish I am...” he whined. He tried his best to push his hair up and out of his eyes, but it only fell back in place again.

”What? You said you were bored?” Tony laughed. ”I thought I helped you not be bored anymore.” The doctor argued with a grin. He didn’t even realise how much he had missed these little games with Peter until now. He doubted Harley would want to do that.

 “Meanie... Mean wolfie...” The boy pouted, changing his sitting position so that his head was now in the man’s lap. He turned so that he could look up at Stark, with the back of his head resting on the doctor’s thigh, and he continued to pout at him.

Tony placed his hand in Peter’s curls when he wiggled onto his lap. He copied Peter’s pout as he looked down at him. ”What, pretty boy? What’s that frown for?” He asked teasingly, tapping the boy’s nose to get a giggle out of him.

Peter squeaked when Stark tapped him on the nose, and quickly grabbed hold of the man’s finger so that it stayed in front of his face. “I’ve gotcha now!! I gotcha!” He laughed, his small hands wrapped around the man’s hand and index finger.

”Oh, no!” Tony groaned dramatically and flopped back on the sofa. ”Are you gonna hold me forever?” He asked with a little pout, but then the boy suddenly decided to jump up from the couch. Tony watched closely as he ran to the doorway.

Peter leapt off the couch and headed towards the door, but paused before he headed through it. A mischievous grin was spread across his face and he gestured minutely with a jerk of his head for the doctor to follow him. When Stark showed signs of getting up, Peter immediately bolted, giggling like a madman as he looked for somewhere to hide. Now, he thought to himself, it was Stark’s turn to get him.

”Oh...” Tony said to himself when he understood the change in game. He went to follow Peter and caught a glimpse of him in the kitchen. ”Where are you going, little one? Don’t you wanna play with Wolfie?” The doctor asked as he walked into the kitchen, listening closely to the faint giggles.

Peter’s giggles got more and more high pitched as he snuck around the kitchen, ducking behind the kitchen island for a brief moment before heading into the hallway. The footsteps that were getting closer and closer spurred him to keep moving, and soon he was climbing the stairs as quietly as possible. “Wolfie’s gonna eat me!” He said quietly, more to himself than anyone else, but had no doubt that Stark could hear him.

Tony saw Peter sprint out of the kitchen and gave him a little head start before following. ”Peter, where are you?” He drawled with a chuckle, walking up the stairs slowly and making sure his footsteps were heavy so that the boy could hear him.

Peter paused on the landing, as he could hear the slow and steady footsteps up the stairs towards him. He panicked, and cried out “Nowhere!” before diving through the nearest door to him. Coincidentally, that happened to be Stark’s bedroom, but Peter didn’t have time to look around before he was clambering into the man’s wardrobe and shutting the door behind him. He watched through a tiny slit between the wardrobe doors, his breath hitching and his hands trembling as he waited for Stark to find him.

Tony followed Peter up the stairs and found his own bedroom door slightly ajar. However, he didn’t head in just yet and walked down the hallway. ”I smell a pretty boy! Oh, he’s close! So close!” Tony growled playfully before turning around and heading to his room. ”In here maybe?”

Peter squeaked in fear, but instantly brought his hands up to his mouth to try and stifle it as best as he could. He didn’t even dare to _breathe_ , his hands so tightly clamped around his mouth to stop himself from making any noise. He suddenly saw movement in the small gap in the wardrobe, and saw that Stark had entered the room. Peter trembled, and tried to shuffle back a little bit to clear more space between him and the wardrobe doors.

Tony couldn’t help but smile when he heard muffled giggles. He knew Peter was in his closet, but he didn’t want to end their little game just yet. He paced his room and hummed aloud. ”It smells like pretty boy here... Wonder where he could he hiding? I’m growing awfully hungry.”

Peter couldn’t help the whimper that escaped him, and he inwardly cursed as he saw how the doctor froze like he had heard him. His hands tightened over his mouth and he waited for the moment that the doctor would spring forward and grab him. The threat of the wolf eating him was making him tremble, and he hoped that he would last a little longer inside the wardrobe.

Figuring that he had tortured Peter enough, Tony finally headed to his wardrobe. ”I thought I heard something...” He drawled before pushing the door open and exclaimed in triumph. ”Found you, pretty boy!” Tony chuckled darkly and bared his teeth like a wolf would.

Peter barely had time to react before the wardrobe door was opened and he was staring at Stark’s maniacally grinning face. The boy’s breathing got faster and faster, like he was afraid, but the grin on his face showed that he was enjoying their game. He trusted Stark, but still tried to put up a fight when he was hauled out of the closet. “Y-You’re gonna eat me!” He cried out, struggling against the man’s grip.

”You look like such a tasty snack!” Tony laughed, growling a little as he got a hold of Peter’s wrist and pulled him close. ”Won’t you let me have a bite, hm?” He asked with a whine like he was a hungry puppy.

Peter wriggled his wrist around as best he could, but Stark’s grip was tight and he couldn’t budge it. “Just... just one bite?” He whimpered, looking up at the doctor. “Y-You won’t like how I taste, ‘m not... ‘m not gonna taste good.” He warned, but knew that the ‘wolf’ wasn’t going to believe him.

”Oh, I’ll be the judge of that.” Tony chuckled and showed his teeth again with a playful growl. ”I bet you taste so sweet, like a little cupcake.” He drawled again, swaying Peter from side to side in his grip.

 “N-Nuh uh! I-I-I taste like... like old boots!” Peter cried, his other hand coming up to try and pry the man’s fingers off his wrist. He stumbled backwards away from the closet, nearly overbalancing but was saved by Stark’s hold on him. “Y-You’re drooling!” He gasped. He wasn’t, Peter was simply adding to the fun of it, but he couldn’t deny that the man’s teeth did look sharp in his mouth.

”I am, pretty boy! Can’t help it when you look so yummy!” Tony laughed and ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth for the drama. Swaying the boy with more force, the doctor let him flop down on his bed. ”Won’t you let me taste?” Tony whined and leaned over Peter.

Peter yelped in surprise when he swayed too far and landed on the man’s king size mattress. Instantly he tried to scramble backwards, but all it did was make the man follow him until he was trapped underneath him and gazing up at the ‘wolf’. “O-Okay. You... You can taste, Mis-Mister Wolf.” He said, squirming as an unknown feeling crept up his bones and made him blush. That feeling was what made the boy suddenly lean up and pull the man’s collar down so that they met in the middle, slotting their lips together a little clumsily. He closed his eyes as he did so, and it took a few seconds for their kissing to fall into a proper rhythm.

Tony was about to say something wolfie-like with a growl, but fell silent when Peter pulled him into a kiss. He quickly took charge of the kiss, like always, and took hold of the boy’s jaw to tilt his head for a deeper kiss.

Peter whimpered into the man’s mouth, using his collar to try and pull him as close as possible as they kissed. He leaned back so that he was completely flat against the mattress, but his head was still tilted upwards for Stark to reach. His hands moved away from the collar of Stark’s shirt and instead went to his hair, to guide him into pressing kisses against his neck.

Tony felt a gentle tug on his scalp and moaned quietly in the back of his throat. The doctor had always been in charge with Peter in almost every sense of the word, but now he saw some potential in the boy, some bravery, and he gladly let Peter guide him down to his neck. Before he could think better of it, Tony kissed Peter’s neck roughly enough to leave a mark.

Peter tilted his head upwards to give more of his neck for Stark to explore, and whimpered pitifully when he felt the man’s lips against him. He felt the scrape of teeth against his jugular, and the sucking of his skin made him shut his eyes and roll his hips hopelessly. His fingers tangled themselves tighter in the doctor’s hair, a silent beg for the man to kiss him there again.

Tony sighed in pleasure at the tug on his hair again and continued to mark Peter’s neck. Nudging the boy’s chin up, the doctor began kissing under his jaw and bit him gently with a groan. Tony began exploring Peter’s torso with his hands, moving from his sides to his stomach and then chest.

Peter leaned back against the covers, and followed the man’s encouragement to lift his chin. He giggled lightly at the feeling of Stark’s bristly goatee rubbing against the sensitive skin of his throat and underside of his jaw. He could feel the man’s hands slowly making their way down his body, but his movements were slow enough that Peter wasn’t too concerned about it. He whined, his eyes still squeezed shut as he lost himself in the tactile pleasure of having Stark’s body on his.

The heavenly sound of Peter’s giggle brought a smile to Tony’s lips and he had a hard time relaxing them to continue kissing the boy’s neck. ”Shh...” Tony whispered and ran the tip of his tongue over Peter’s little adam’s apple before making another hickey. While sucking Peter’s skin, Tony let his hands wonder down further to the boy’s hips.

Peter whimpered again when another hickey was added to the collection on his neck, but bit down on his bottom lip to quieten himself like the man ordered. He relaxed into the bed and was too focussed on how good the man’s lips felt against his neck to notice how Stark’s hands seemed to be wandering lower and lower down his body.

Tony grinned against Peter’s neck at the little noises he was making. He growled back quietly and let his hand travel further south until he was groping the boy between his legs. However, Peter yelped and Tony immediately pulled back and gave the boy some space. ”What- Do you want to stop?” The doctor asked hastily, feeling himself panic a bit.

Peter was enjoying the sensations that clouded his mind, but the sudden pressure against his clothed dick made him yelp. His heart began to pound, like a captive hummingbird in his chest, and his hands came down to shield himself. He was trembling, much like a scared rabbit, and turned his face to hide it in the sheets. “I-I’ve never...” was the only explanation he gave, his voice strangled and feeble.

”What- oh... That’s fine, Peter. We won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with.” Tony assured with a steady voice despite his heart still pounding in his chest with panic. Had he pressed Peter into something he didn’t want to do?

Peter’s hands slowly moved from his crotch as he relaxed. He shook his head. "It was too much." He admitted in a whisper, opening his eyes and staring at the wall. "I'm not… not…" He chewed on his lip, frustrated at not having the words to describe the mess in his head. “‘m sorry. I-I want to- to do it, but....” He said, even quieter than before.

”Peter, it’s okay.” Tony said slightly louder so that Peter would listen to him. ”It’s okay, really. We won’t do anything you don’t want to.” The doctor assured, giving the boy a smile. He wanted to touch Peter, but doubted that would help much when the boy appeared so skittish.

Peter gulped, but nodded to show he understood. “O-Okay.” He slowly sat up so that he could see the doctor, and his heart relaxed at the sight of his soft, encouraging smile. He pushed his curls out of his eyes, and brought a hand up to his neck to feel where Stark had been kissing him. It made him blush when he saw the man also eyeing those areas up, and he couldn’t help giggle.

Tony chuckled a little. ”I- uhm... Should have asked if that was okay. Sorry about that.” He explained hastily, waving his hand to gesture at the hickeys and marks all over Peter’s neck. Was he losing his mind? This boy was making him lose all common sense and most importantly his professional training.

Peter shook his head at that. “‘s okay. I like ‘em.” He admitted quietly. They were like marks to show who Peter belonged to, and the thought of that made the boy’s heart race. He smiled again, before leaning forward to kiss the man again, not with heat this time but with affection.

Tony was relieved to see Peter leaning into another kiss and welcomed his lips against his own. Perhaps he hadn’t fucked up, /again/, and they could just enjoy each others’ company. However, that idea sounded too good to be true and the doctor tensed up a little and pulled back just an inch to groan quietly in frustration.

Peter frowned slightly when he heard the man groan, and also moved away. “I- Did I do something wrong? S-Sorry, I...” he sat back on his knees and looked at the man with wide, puppy-like eyes. “What /are/ we doing?” The boy joked, scratching at the largest of the hickies, one that was beginning to form at the junction between his neck and collarbone.

”I- ugh...” Tony tried to explain, but the sweet look on Peter’s face left him speechless. He had to stop breaking the boy’s heart and making him cry so often. ”Who fucking knows...” The doctor grumbled finally before grabbing the back of Peter’s head and pulling him close to kiss his neck again.

Peter squeaked when he was suddenly pulled in and the doctor’s lips pressed themselves against his neck. He squealed in delight and dared to pull the man backwards so that he was lying on the bed again and Stark was hovering above him, like they were positioned before. He didn’t realise how sensitive his neck was until Stark had began to kiss it, and he couldn’t get enough of the feeling. It left him breathless and whimpering, and his hands continued to grip at the man’s hair. “H-How do I taste, Mis-Mister Wolf?” He said, but then immediately broke down into high pitched giggles at how _stupid_  he had just sounded. He snorted, even as the man was kissing him, and his shoulders rocked with laughter.

Tony moaned quietly in response to all of Peter’s little noises. He felt himself grow hard in his pants, but held back as he knew Peter didn’t want to take it there. At the ridiculous comment, Tony paused and pulled back to see Peter properly. He couldn’t help but laugh along. ”What was that? You sound like a pornstar.” The doctor joked with laughter in his voice.

Peter blushed violently, shoving at the man’s face gracelessly. “Shu’up!” He laughed, squirming to sit up properly on the bed finally. All the nerves from before had finally dissipated, just leaving behind amusement and mild embarrassment at Peter’s terrible attempt at dirty talk. “Forget I said anything, Pervert.” He threatened, looking away as the blush crept higher and higher up his cheeks.

When Peter shoved at his face, Tony only laughed louder and flopped down on the bed on his back. He grinned over at the boy by his side and watched his blush darken and spread across his face. ”Pervert? You little...” Tony growled, feeling a wave of possessiveness wash over him at the title and he grabbed the boy by his shoulders to pull him over where he lay.

Peter squealed in surprise as he was pulled over to where the man laid on the bed, landing on top of him with a soft “Oof!”. He rested his chin on Stark’s chest and gazed at him, a shit-eating grin still on his face despite his cherry-red blush. “Yeah, _Pervert_. Pedarast. Whichever you prefer.” He teased, his hands wandering up to poke at the doctor’s cheek. “Perrrrrverrrrt.” He drawled, the nickname now becoming set in stone in the boy’s mind.

Was he a pervert? Tony knew that Peter was joking, or at least hoped he was, because he did not feel like one. Sure, he had made some mistakes when caring for Peter, but the boy still seemed very happy and was it so wrong of him to continue making sure Peter was happy? ”Whichever I prefer? Sounds like you like it the most of out the two of us.” Tony pointed out with a smirk, letting the boy poke at his face while resting his own hands on the boy’s back, stroking up and down gently.

Peter pouted at that, sticking his bottom lip out with an exaggerated frown on his face. “Nuh uh!” He shook his head, his curls bouncing with movement. “You like it more. You were the one who nearly...” Peter trailed off when he caught sight of Stark’s face, like he was daring the boy to finish his sentence. He shut up, but rested his hands on the doctor’s cheeks and continued to squish at them. “F-Fine, maybe I like it as well. Maybe more.”

Tony chuckled at how flustered Peter looked and how he stuttered out his argument. ”That’s what I thought. I am always right, aren’t I?” Tony teased and continued to let his hands roam over Peter’s back, feeling his spine nearly all the way and most of his ribs.

Peter rolled his eyes fondly at the man, squirming under his feather-light touch across his back. “I wouldn’t say _always_... 85% of the time, if you’re lucky...” he said airily, still giggling occasionally whenever Stark’s fingers brushed over ticklish parts of him. “It’s just luck, Pervert. That’s all it is.” He snorted.

”Right, right.” Tony chuckled with a grin. ”I studied psychology and medicine for years and years, but all my decisions are correct because of luck?” The doctor argued as he traced Peter’s spine with his finger.

 “Yeah, isn’t it obvious?” Peter nodded, turning his head so he could rest his cheek just below the man’s collarbone. “‘s all luck... Luck ‘n... ‘n guessing.” He teased, wriggling about as he felt Stark’s finger trail up and down each bit of his vertabrae. “I bet _Strange_  doesn’t have to rely on luck.” He said quietly, but the mischief was clear in his voice and he paused to see how Stark would react.

Tony growled in the back of throat at the mention of his rival and flipped Peter so that he was on his back. Hovering over the boy with a smirk, the doctor spoke lowly. ”You’re a brat, Peter Parker. What should be done about that?” He drawled and lifted a finger to run over Peter’s cheek lightly.

Before the boy knew what was happening, he was flipped onto his back and caged in by Stark’s arms on either side of him. He looked up at the doctor with wide eyes, and he gulped when Stark’s fingertip grazed his cheek. His dick twitched with interest at the man’s murmured words, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Stark’s smirking face. A sudden spark of confidence shot through him, and he dared to open his mouth and speak. “Y-You like it too much to do anything about it, Doctor Stark. If you want to prove me wrong, though...” he trailed off, wrenching his eyes away from Stark’s face to look away abashedly.

”Hmm... Is that so?” Tony drawled. He wasn’t about to have an argument about education with a teenager, not when he was being so childish and acting like a brat, so he sunk down to the boy’s level. ”Admit that I’m better than Strange, or else...” The doctor threatened, narrowing his eyes at the boy with a hint of a smirk still on his lips.

Peter squirmed once more, his eyes widening as Stark’s narrowed. “Wh-What’ll you do? Talk rationally at me, like doctors always do? Seems kinda pointless, Doc.” He teased, his face still grinning even though his eyes showed anticipation and nerves. “You couldn’t threaten me if you tried, Pervert.” He dared to say defiantly.

Tony just scoffed in response before straddling Peter's hips with his knees so that the boy could not escape. ”No, no, I think we are past threats now.” The doctor chuckled and lifted his hands. ”We have to talk drastic actions!” He laughed before beginning to tickle Peter's ribs.

Peter immediately squealed, his entire body twisting and turning under Stark’s weight as he tried to escape the man’s wriggling fingers. He tried his best to catch Stark’s hands ineffectively, but they were too quick for him as they attacked his ribs and stomach. He was squealing incoherently, his head turned to one side and his face a bright red as he giggled. “N-No! No, I-I’ll never a-admit it!”

”Then I’ll never stop!” Tony laughed out, grinning widely at the sight of a blushing and out of breath Peter squirming under him. ”Admit that I’m better than Strange!” The doctor demanded and moved one hand to tickle Peter under his chin while he kept the other by his ribs.

Peter gave up trying to push the man away from him and instead chose the defensive approach, trying to shield his ticklish areas from Stark’s hands. When fingers begin tickling the fleshy area under his chin, the boy ducks his head like he’s trying to give himself a double chin, all while still squirming under his weight. “Th-That B+ s-s-says otherwise!” He laughed, his eyes squeezed shut and tears of laughter leaking from their corners.

”That was one time!” Tony cried out and growled playfully as he went even harder on the tickling, making the boy under him wheeze with laughter. Perhaps Peter didn’t need his medication if Tony just tickled him a few times a day like this. ”Admit I’m better!”

Finally, Peter’s resolve broke. He slapped the man’s forearms a few times and gasped for air. “A-Alright! Alright! Y-You’re better, you’re better, you’re better!” He cried out, his entire body trembling with giggles as he felt the man’s fingers slow down on his sides.

”Finally!” Tony laughed and stopped with the tickling, placing his hands on either side of Peter’s head to gaze down at him. ”Strange is good, but not as good as me.” The doctor smirked as he watched the boy try to catch his breath.

Peter huffed fondly, still trying to catch his breath. He let his head flop back against the bed and looked up at the man through tired but content eyes. “Not as good as you...” he murmured back, lifting his hands up to bring Stark’s head down for a kiss. It only lasted a couple of seconds, and didn’t lead to any more, and Peter let go of the man’s face once he had pulled back. He then decided to peer around the room, or what he could see of it from being laid down on the bed with Stark hovering over him. “Rooms nice.” He said politely.

”Thanks.” Tony huffed out with a smile and followed Peter’s eyes around the room. ”It’s like the rest of the house, I barely spend any time here.” He explained. The room was simple, maybe even boring to some, but it was functional and that was all the doctor needed.

Peter stuck his bottom lip out at that. “How do you enjoy your downtime if your house looks like... this? No offense, it’s just... you don’t really have much to look forward to when you get in from work.” He said, continuing to survey the room before looking back at the doctor. He was mildly aware that Stark still had him trapped beneath him between his knees, and the man’s hands up by his head, but he didn’t really mind.

”That’s because I look forward to go to work instead.” Tony explained and moved to lay down next to Peter on his back so that he was more comfortable. ”I just need somewhere to sleep at night and a nice marble table to have breakfast and dinner at. That’s all.” Tony shrugged and looked over at the boy next to him.

Peter waited for the man to lie down next to him, and then scooted over so that they were a little closer together. “Right, right. And you need a fancy fuckin’ car as well?” He asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow when Stark met his gaze.

Tony raised an eyebrow in return before smiling a little smugly. ”Yes, I do.” He said with all seriousness. He would sell his house and get a smaller one to keep his beloved Alfa Romeo.

Peter shrugged. “Fair enough. You can buy anything with a doctor’s pay check, so ‘m not judging.” He said, turning his head to look around the room once more. “It’s just... I’m the opposite to you. You saw my room, it’s crammed with stuff I collect and... and don’t really need, but I want cos it makes me happy. You need some of that. Maybe I could bring of my Star Wars posters, really spice this place up.” He joked, imagining how the house would look if Peter and May were living in it.

”Well, not everything everything, but I’ll admit I have a secure life.” _But only if you don’t tell on me,_ Tony thought to himself. ”And my room was even more crammed when I was your age.” The doctor chuckled and did not comment on Peter hinting at moving in. He honestly had no idea what he thought of that.

Peter merely hummed, acknowledging what the man was saying. Slowly, he sat up and leaned back on his hands, and looked down at the doctor lying next to him. He didn’t often look at the man too closely, usually they were talking (or making out) and Peter was focussing on something else, but for now he let himself gaze at the man next to him. He really was handsome, with his deep, tea-coloured eyes and the laughter lines that formed around them. His goatee with the salt and pepper hairs mixed in with the dark, and his cocky smirk when he realised that Peter was now pretty much staring at him unashamedly.

Tony’s head was spinning just a bit when he looked up at Peter. Once more, his conscience began nagging at him and what he was doing with the boy. Was he moving in? No, Tony was just looking out for him until his aunt was better. He convinced himself of that before turning his attention to Peter instead, like always. ”What are you thinking about?” He asked, as if they were still in his office at the facility.

That particular phrase made Peter roll his eyes, but he answered regardless. “You. You’re pretty.” He mumbled, bringing his hand forward to run a finger along Stark’s jaw and feel the bristles of his beard against his fingertip. “Also, all this chasing ‘n tickling has tired me out.” He laughed, yawning on cue as if to prove his point.

Tony hummed at the complient and the nice feeling of Peter touching his facial hair. ”You want to rest in your room?” The doctor suggested, lifting a hand up to touch Peter’s forehead and then down to cup his cheek.

Peter shook his head, flopping back down onto his back. “Nuh uh. Wanna stay here. Beds too comfy.” He said, curling up on his side and bunching up the covers in his hands to anchor himself in case Stark tried to move him.

Tony figured Peter was still not entirely aged up and let it pass. ”Okay, fine. You want me to stay with you?” The doctor asked. To be honest, he found it quite adorable how the boy clinged to his bed.

Peter nodded wordlessly, shuffling up the bed like a caterpillar to slide under the covers. He didn’t expect Stark to get in with him, but he didn’t mind how close Stark laid to him over the covers. “Can you... Can you get Spidey, please? I think I left him downstairs in the kitchen...” He mumbled, using his puppy dog eyes to plead for the man to get his stuffie for him.

”Of couse, you just hold on tight.” Tony said with a smile and moved out of the bed to fetch the stuffie. The doctor found it on the floor by the couch and returned to his room, waving the stuffie so Peter could see. ”He said he missed you.” Tony said and played along as he lay down next to the boy again.

Peter nodded, waiting patiently for the man to return to the room with his beloved Spidey. When he saw the stuffie, he squealed and held his hands out expectantly for it, making grabby hands as he did so. He took Spidey into his arms and cuddled him tight. “I missed him too!” He mumbled, and then to the stuffie in a stage whisper, “I was chased by the Big Bad Wolf, Spidey. But it’s okay, I escaped!” He said, wriggling under the covers to get comfortable. He looked fondly over at Stark as he laid down with him, with a smile that reached his eyes.

”You all comfy and ready for a nap now? You need your rest, little one.” Tony smiled back and tapped Peter on his nose. If only the boy could be in littlespace all day, the doctor thought to himself a little sadly.

Peter squeaked when Stark tapped him on the nose and batted the man’s hand away. “M’kay... G’night, Daddy...” he mumbled, before shutting his eyes and hugging the stuffie closer to him as he slowly but surely drifted off to sleep. He felt a little self-conscious about being the only one going to sleep, with Stark watching him, but he pushed that thought out of his mind and soon he was lightly snoring and fast asleep.

”Sleep tight, little one.” Tony whispered and leaned down to kiss Peter’s forehead gently. He stayed by the boy’s side for a while and watched him drift off peacefully. Once he was sure Peter was asleep, he slowly made his way out of the bed as not to disturb the boy. By the doorway, Tony looked over at Peter once more before leaving the door slightly ajar.


	57. 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another day, another argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you guys are wondering what my sense of humour is like, i've been laughing at this video for the entire time i've edited this chapter: https://twitter.com/MistyWayWishes/status/1127086648536248320 - richie

Peter woke up an hour later to an empty bedroom. He took a minute to rouse himself, stretching out his limbs and rolling back his shoulders as he looked around the room. He clambered out of the bed, Spidey in hand, and made his way out of the room. “St-Stark...?” He called out, looking around the hallway. “D-Daddy?” He repeated, a little quieter when he said that particular title. He heard a reply in a room nearby, and so headed to the next door along to see Doctor Stark sat in his office. “H-Hi.” He mumbled, poking his head through the door.

”Hey.” Tony replied, spinning around in his office chair to face Peter in the doorway. The boy was clinging onto his stuffie, so he figured he was still in little space. ”Did you have a good nap, little one?” He asked, gesturing for Peter to come closer with his hand.

“Mhm.” Peter nodded, taking a couple more steps forward into the office. Stark’s office, ironically, seemed to be the most lived in of all the rooms - bookshelves groaning with the weight of psychology books, a desk strewn with paper and a sleek laptop on which Stark appeared to be typing a document of which Peter couldn’t be bothered to read. He didn’t climb onto the doctor’s lap like he did that one time back at the facility, but instead stood a little awkwardly next to the man. They finally appeared to be at the same height, what with Peter standing while Stark sat in his office chair.

Beckoning Peter over, Tony patted his knee. ”You still feeling little?” He asked with a smile. He wondered if Peter had already regressed with Strange, but doubted that he had considering his attachment issues.

Peter nodded again, without comment this time, and took the last few steps needed before he hoisted himself up onto Stark’s lap. At the back of his mind, he wondered if he was crushing the man, but Stark never seemed to complain so he assumed he wasn’t. “What’cha doing?” He asked, peering at the laptop screen. It had blocks and blocks of text which Peter skimmed with his eyes, but didn’t pay close enough attention to actually read.

Wrapping his arms around Peter’s waist securely, Tony held the boy close and bounced his leg a little. He found the boy to be slightly heavier than a few weeks ago, which he was very happy about. ”Just reading through a study that’s about to be published.” Tony explained and glanced at his Mac before returning his attention to Peter. ”Pretty dull actually.” The doctor chuckled.

Peter’s mouth formed a little “O” shape as he also looked at the Mac at the same time as Stark. He looked back at the doctor when he looked at Peter, and smiled in response to his chuckling. “Daddy’s smart. Super smart.” He said quietly, casting his eyes over the bookshelves that were crammed with books. “But Daddy’s always workin’.” He said with a frown. “Even when home, Daddy’s working.”

”Aren’t you a sweet little one?” Tony cooed and nuzzled his nose into Peter’s cheek. He then followed the boy’s eyes around the room and studied the bookshelves. ”Yeah, I like my job a lot, so I read and work a lot to become better at it.” He explained and watched as Peter studied his office all wide eyed. The doctor thought it was adorable.

Peter nodded slowly as he listened, his eyes still roaming around the room. Eventually they fell back onto Stark’s face, who was watching him, and the boy smiled. “Daddy’s already good at it!” He said, wriggling on Stark’s lap to sit more comfortably. He brought Spidey into his own lap as well, and began fiddling with his long, spindly yet furry legs.

”Well, thank you.” Tony smiled back at Peter’s enthusiasm. ”But, you can always become even better, so that is what I try to do. There’s so much research being published every day and I want to keep up with it.” The doctor explained, rubbing his hands up and down Peter’s back again and he looked at him with a soft expression.

 “Huh...” Peter hummed, and pulled a thinking expression as his regressed brain began to process what the man said. “That... sounds tiring.” He said, looking at the man with his patented wide eyes. He flopped forward gracelessly so that he could rest his temple against the man’s shoulder, and squirmed happily as he felt Stark’s hands trail up and down his back.

”Hmm, it can be, but I enjoy it.” Tony said with a chuckle when Peter flopped down on his shoulder. ”You hungry, buddy? It’s been a while since you ate.” The doctor pointed out, but did not add to the argument that the boy had to gain weight, as that might jolt him out of his comfortable littlespace.

Peter shrugged in response to his question. “If Daddy’s makin’ something...” He said, looking up at the man expectantly. He suddenly remembered something and began prodding incessantly at the doctor’s shoulder. “Daddy needs to eat too!” He insisted, eventually stopping his poking but no longer resting against his shoulder so he could watch Stark’s face.

”You looking out for me too? What a good boy you are.” Tony cooed and leaned in to kiss Peter’s cheek. ”We’ll have some lunch together, all right?” He suggested and patted the boy’s thigh so he would get off his lap.

Peter grinned proudly, screwing his face up when Stark planted a kiss on his cheek. He followed the man’s instruction to hop off his lap, and stood bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for Stark to finish saving and bookmarking his work on his Mac. When he was done and stood up, Peter took the doctor’s hand like it was second nature, and tugged on it so that they could head down to the kitchen together.

”Yes, yes, coming.” Tony chuckled at Peter’s eagerness and let the boy lead him downstairs to the kitchen. Tony went through some options in his head before asking Peter. ”How about mac and cheese?” The doctor suggested, figuring that the simple dish would be tempting for a boy in his littlespace.

Peter made a noise of enthusiastic agreement at the suggestion of mac and cheese. As they headed down the stairs, Peter counted each step to himself out loud, unaware that Stark could hear him. Once they had gotten to the bottom of the stairs and made their way round to the kitchen, Peter took his usual seat on the stool by the kitchen island and propped Spidey up on the marble surface.

Tony watched with a fond smile as Peter counted the steps. Tony doubted he could ever get over how cute and carefree Peter was in his littlespace and which was why he decided to wait with the suggestion that Peter would go swimming by himself the next day while he was at work. ”So, how are you feeling, little guy?” The doctor asked with a smile as he got a pot to boil the macaroni in.

Peter hummed, thinking how best to answer. “‘m okay. Me ‘n Spidey had a good nap.” He said, nodding to the stuffie like it could understand what he was saying. He let himself flop against the marble surface, stretching his arm out across it and resting his temple on his arm so that he watched the man at a 90 degree angle.

”Hmm? Did you have nice dreams?” Tony asked and glanced over at the boy, smiling at how relaxed he looked. He gpt the macaroni measured out and ready to go once the water boiled.

Peter nodded at that, but blushed and looked away from the doctor when he noticed that Stark was looking at him. He didn’t want to admit that even in his littlespace, the dream he had had was decidedly naughty as a result of their making out before he took his nap. Instead, he simply made a “yes” noise at the back of his throat and focussed on fiddling with Spidey.

”That’s good.” Tony smiled, getting some cheese and milk ready. ”You seem to be thinking about something though. Tell me, bud.” The doctor prompted.

Peter looked back over at Stark, his eyes wide like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “N-No, I- I’m not! ‘m not, Daddy.” He lied, the blush only getting darker and darker. “I-It’s...” Peter’s voice dropped into a whisper, but loud enough for Stark to hear. “‘s _naughty_ , Daddy.” He admitted quietly, looking away from him so that his face didn’t burn up any more than it already had.

”Yeah?” Tony asked with a smirk, pouring the macaroni into the water before turning to Peter by leaning on the kitchen island. ”You can tell Daddy anything, little one.” The doctor said with an easy going smile.

Peter squirmed in his seat. Although he wasn’t looking at Stark at this very moment, he could practically _hear_  the smugness in the man’s voice. He dared to glance over at the man who was now leaning on the marble surface and watching him. “I- It was my dream, we- I- it...” Peter stammered hopelessly, unable to look the man in the face for more than a few seconds while he was this flustered.

Tony kept his expression soft as he looked at Peter. ”What, little one?” He asked with a smile, enjoying how the boy’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

Peter huffed, annoyed at his own embarrassment. He grabbed Spidey and brought the stuffie in front of him so he could bury his face in its fur. “I-I dreamt we... did stuff. Naughty stuff, Daddy.” He whined, his hair flopping on to the marble surface while he hid his face. Even in his littlespace, he wished for the ground to open up and swallow him while.

”Hmm?” Tony smirked now that Peter couldn’t see. ”Did you get all excited?” The doctor asked, lifting a hand to run through the boy’s messy hair.

Peter flinched when he felt Stark’s hand suddenly on his head, but he recovered quickly. He nodded into the stuffie, whining quietly in mortification. “U-Uh huh.” He admitted, not daring to lift his head in case Stark was looking at him in disgust.

”That’s all right, buddy. Little boys have exciting dreams now and then and that’s normal.” Tony assured as Peter seemed to grow flustered again. The doctor got a sense of deja vu when he remembered how Peter had grown aroused at the facility when they had played together. The boy was even more flustered back then though.

Peter shook his head almost violently at that. “‘s _bad_ , Daddy, ‘s bad!” He whined, still squirming on the seat. “Y-You were there! I-In my dream, you were there ‘n... ‘s bad, Daddy.” He said, trying to explain that his embarrassment had come from Stark seeing his excitement and acting upon it.

”What do you mean it’s bad?” Tony asked, moving to sit next to Peter to hear him better. He genuinely was not following the boy’s logic so far and knit his brows together as he tried to understand.

 “‘s embarrassing... Daddy seein’ me like that, ‘s embarrassing ‘n... what if Daddy thinks it’s weird?” He admitted, his fingers gripping tightly onto Spidey’s fur to ground himself. If Peter were aged up, he would be able to express that he wasn’t used to other people seeing or knowing that he was aroused, and the idea of Stark finding out about his dreams about him was mortifying. In his regressed state, however, Peter couldn’t find the words to explain it properly, and thus only became more embarrassed and more frustrated.

”But, Daddy doesn’t think it’s weird, little darling.” Tony assured again, placing his hand back in Peter’s hair to comfort him. ”It’s okay to be a little embarrassed, I understand that, but I don’t think it’s weird at all. Come on, look at me.” The doctor reasoned and patted the boy’s head so that he would look at him.

Peter hesitated for a moment, but slowly lifted his head to look at the doctor. He expected to see a look of mild disgust, despite the man’s words, but only found a soft expression in Stark’s eyes. Peter wasn’t crying, but his face showed he was clearly nervous and embarrassed about what had happened. He didn’t really want to look at Stark, but he kept eye contact regardless as his fingers twisted and tangled in Spidey’s fur.

”Daddy’s not mad or anything.” Tony smiled and stroked Peter’s head, moving his hand down to cup the boy’s cheek and stroke his cheekbone with his thumb. ”You’re a good boy, Peter.” The doctor said, hoping the little phrase would sooth him as nothing else seemed to do the trick.

Peter didn’t seem very convinced, but he relaxed when his face was cupped in the man’s hand. He blinked slowly, before casting his eyes elsewhere to save himself from further embarrassment. He finally seemed to stop wriggling in his seat as well, and his hands dropped from fiddling with Spidey to fold themselves in his lap, where his legs began to swing back and forth. “Promise?” He asked quietly, looking back at the doctor as he spoke.

The praise seemed to do the trick as Peter relaxed a little. At the question, Tony raised his free hand and held his pinky out. ”Pinky promise.” He smiled, trying to catch the boy’s eyes so that he’d see that he was being genuine.

Peter nodded and brought his hand forward so that they linked their pinky fingers together. He also suddenly leant forward and planted a quick kiss on the man’s cheek, before sitting back and looking at him with an apprehensive smile on his face. When they both dropped their hands, Peter’s attention turned back to the pot of macaroni, which seemed to be looking quite lively. He felt a little bit better now, but was still slightly embarrassed that he had to explain himself to the doctor.

Tony hummed at the kiss on his cheek and leaned into it. ”Aren’t you a sweet, little boy.” He cooed, lifting a hand up to run through Peter’s hair. Following the boy’s eyes, Tony also looked at the pot and went over to check if the macaroni was ready. He took one piece of the pasta onto a fork, blowing it to cool it down before offering it to Peter. ”Wanna be my pasta tester?” The doctor smiled.

Peter smiled sweetly at the man, closing his eyes briefly as Stark’s hand ran through his hair. When he got up, he whined a little bit at the loss of contact but turned on the stool to watch the doctor check the pasta. At the offer of the first bit of pasta, the boy nodded and plucked the macaroni from the fork to chew on it. “‘s good!” He said with a smile. “Testing it’s the most important bit.” He said in a wise voice, but broke down into giggles at the look that the man gave him.

”Isn’t eating it the most important?” Tony said with a sharp look, but quickly smiled at the boy when he giggled. ”Can you help me with the cheese and such?” The doctor asked and gestured for the boy to come over and join him.

 “You want my help?” Peter said uncertainly, hesitating to get out of the stool. When Stark showed no sign of joking, however, the boy slowly got up and headed over to the stove to stand next to the doctor. There were a couple of inches between them in height, but in Peter’s littlespace that height difference felt like a foot. He watched the pot of macaroni eagerly, and glanced up at Stark as he waited for his instructions on what to do.

”Can you pour out a cup of milk for us? You can find a cup up there.” Tony instructed while he went to drain the pasta. ”Be careful not to spill it.”

Peter nodded and headed over to the cupboard that Stark had pointed out. Although he didn’t strictly need to, he went up on his tiptoes to open it and bring out the cup, and then promptly dropped back down onto his heels and headed back to the work surface. He then grabbed the milk from the fridge and carefully poured out the amount needed into the cup. “There! Now what?” He asked, his head swiftly turning to look back at the doctor.

”Good boy.” Tony praised and set the pot next to the stove. ”Then we need need some butter and shredded cheese. Can you find those in the fridge too?” Tony said with a smile.

Peter beamed at the praise, and promptly headed over to the fridge to find the butter and cheese tucked inside the fridge door. He grabbed them both and brought them back to where Stark was cooking, placing them down by the cup of milk. “What now, what now, what now?” He asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

”Then we mix it all together. You wanna stir it?” Tony asked and handed a spoon to Peter, while he added the butter, milk and cheese to the pasta steadily to make a smooth mix.

 “Ooh, yeah!” Peter chirped, taking the spoon and watching carefully as Stark began to add the dairy products into the pasta. He began to stir it as Stark added the ingredients, his tongue poking out of his lips in pure concentration as he tried not to get the mixture on the surfaces or on their clothes. He didn’t even look at Stark, he was too busy making sure he did a good job of stirring the food together.

”That’s good, very good, Peter.” Tony praised as he saw how hard the boy was concentrating on his task. ”Then just a bit of salt and we should be good to go.” The doctor said and added just a bit of salt and let Peter stir that in too.

Peter paused the movement of his arm for long enough so that Stark could add the salt, and then quickly resumed stirring. After a few more minutes he stopped, taking a step back and wiggling his right arm to stop it from cramping up. “And now we wait?” He asked, finally looking over at Stark again. He also glanced back at Spidey, who seemed to be happy sat on the marble surface and watching the entire event occur.

”Yeah, just a moment for the cheese to melt. What do you want to drink, bud?” Tony asked and opened the fridge so that Peter could see his options.

Peter leaned to one side so that he could peer into the fridge for his options. However, his face fell and he looked up at the doctor. “No Coke?” He said, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. Combined with his wide puppy eyes, it was a silent plea for Stark to go out and buy soda.

”You already had one today, Peter.” Tony reminded with a smile, tapping the boy’s nose before pointing at the milk. ”How about some milk instead?” The doctor suggested, hoping Peter would go with the far healthier option. Tony had to keep an eye on Peter’s health after all.

Peter scrunched his nose up when Stark tapped it, clearly not pleased with the man’s answer. He shook his head at the option of milk. “’m already having milk in the mac and cheese. I’ll just have water.” He said, taking a step back from the fridge and heading over to the cupboard where the glasses were kept so that he could pour himself a glass of water.

Tony frowned just a bit at Peter’s more mature tone. The boy seemed to be ageing up, or at least not sure what age he wanted to be, and the doctor wondered what to do next for a few seconds. ”As you please.” Tony smiled, getting a glass for himself and filling it with water too. He set two plates on the kitchen island along with two forks. ”Should we get Spidey a plate too?” Tony joked with a smile to test how regressed Peter was.

Peter seemed to be in his own head, distracted by worried thoughts about May rearing their head in his mind’s eye, and was brought back into the room by Stark’s question. “Huh? N-No, it’s okay. He can share mine.” He said quietly, looking at the stuffie sat on the kitchen island.

 _Definitely aged up_ , Tony thought to himself. ”All right then.” He said with an easy going smile while thinking to himself how to handle Peter. ”Eat up, kiddo.” Tony said as he filled both Peter’s plate and his own before sitting down by the kitchen island.

Peter nodded, heading over to the kitchen island to take his own seat. He eyed the pasta carefully, deciding whether his returning anxiety-nausea was enough to stop him from eating entirely. He eventually decided to give it a go, spearing a few macaroni twists on his fork and chewing on them. He kept quiet as he ate, deep in thought with his gaze set in the middle distance.

Tony noticed Peter’s hesitation to eat right away, but did not ask about it yet. He wanted to give Peter some time to eat first as he predicted that when he would ask what he was thinking about, Peter would become too worked up to eat. So, the doctor ate his own food while keeping an eye on the boy sat right across him.

Peter could only get through a few more bites of mac and cheese before he had to put the fork down. He could tell Stark was watching him, but even the embarrassment of not eating Stark’s food, which the man had made from scratch for him, was enough to get him to keep eating. Instead, he took sips of water, and hoped that it didn’t look unnatural.

Peter’s eating was slowing down considerably and Tony debated on how to bring it up as not to upset the boy. ”How are you feeling, Peter?” He asked vaguely, hoping that would not upset him.

“’m okay.” Peter answered. It was short, but not rudely so. He was starting to think about May again, and about how instead of being with her, helping her to recover, he was sat eating mac and cheese. The guilt was starting to get to him, and it suddenly made his appetite shrink in seconds.

”You look worked up about something. Tell me what you’re thinking about.” Tony prompted, setting his own fork down. The doctor would guess the boy was thinking about his hospitalised aunt at the moment, but he did not want to make assumptions.

Peter sighed, setting the glass of water down on the table and looking over at Stark. For a brief moment, it felt like he had never even left the facility. The doctor had fallen back behind his mask of professionalism, and it made Peter’s heart ache in a new, confusing sense. However, he pushed that to the back of his mind for now. “I’m just thinking about May. I should be back at the hospital with her.”

”Hmm.” Tony nodded in sympathy. ”You’re worried about her. Is that correct?” The doctor asked, not even noticing himself how he basically began working instead of just talking with someone privately.

“Yeah.” Peter nodded, huffing gently out of his nose. He tried his best to not get annoyed, knowing that Stark was just trying to help and that the vocabulary he was using was just familiar to the man. He really did feel like nothing had changed, and he wondered whether this was always how it was going to be with Stark. He didn’t say anything else after that, instead choosing to pick up the glass of water and down it in one go to avoid talking.

”What are you worried about?” Tony continued to ask, wanting to comfort Peter so that he could hopefully finish his meal. It had been quite a while since the omelette that Peter had eaten earlier.

“I don’t know. I’m just… worried.” He said glumly. “I-I don’t really wanna talk about it.” He added quietly, wondering how Stark would react to that. It seemed like the doctor had a script in his head to go by, and in this situation he wondered what he would do if he threw him off his script.

”That’s okay.” Tony said after a few seconds of thinking. After all, they weren’t in his office having therapy and he couldn’t pressure Peter into talking like he could there. However, he still only wanted what was best for the boy and pointed at his plate. ”But, you need to eat some more. It’s been hours since your last meal.” The doctor pointed out.

“Don’t wanna.” The boy mumbled, folding his arms on the kitchen island and resting his chin on his arms. At the back of his mind, he imagined that Loki would be proud of him for doing something that he would describe as bratty, and the thought of it made Peter smile briefly. However, he made no attempt to pick his fork up again and just stared out in front of him.

”And why’s that?” Tony asked, not in a condescending tone, but more so in a worried one and studied the boy. Tony hoped a tantrum was not coming.

“Eating makes me feel sick.” Peter said, the movement of his jaw causing his head to bob up and down where he had it rested against his arms. “Don’t wanna be sick.” He explained simply, turning his head so that he was now looking at Spidey, who was positioned to one side and watching the boy.

”You know that your aunt is being taken care of, yeah? She’s in the safest place she could possibly be in right now.” Tony assured, hoping that it would comfort the boy enough to ease his anxiety so that he could eat. No one functions well on low blood sugar and especially not a mentally ill and medicated teenager.

“I said I don’t wanna talk about it!” Peter cried, becoming more agitated as each second passed. For a split second, he wanted to be back in his own apartment with May and dealing with never seeing Stark again, as opposed to being with Stark while worrying over May’s condition. “W-Why can’t you just leave it?!” He said, standing up off the stool and storming out of the kitchen. He didn’t have many places to go, so he chose to stomp up the stairs and head for the guest bedroom.

”Peter, buddy.” Tony tried and got up to follow Peter as he stomped upstairs. The doctor cursed under his breath as he walked up the stairs swiftly. It seemed like a tantrum was very much on. ”I’m here to listen and help you.”

Peter groaned, spinning on his feet to face the doctor when he had caught up to him. Of course he had come running after him, the boy thought to himself ruefully. “But I don’t _want_  that right now! Y-You’re always trying to get me to say how I feel, maybe I don’t wanna do that! I just… I miss May, and that’s it, okay?! Now leave me alone!” He said, before turning and disappearing into the guest room. He sat back against the door to make sure that Stark couldn’t get in, and let his head hit the wood with a quiet “thud”.

Tony had clearly miscalculated by following Peter, but what made this so different compared to policing patients at the facility? The doctor was not entirely sure, but let Peter storm into the guest room. ”That’s okay, bud, take some time for yourself. I’ll be downstairs, all right?” Tony said through the door, waiting a moment to see if Peter would respond, but when he didn’t the doctor went back downstairs.

Peter didn’t say anything back, simply shut his eyes and listened to the doctor’s footsteps as they got further away from the bedroom door and eventually left him alone. He sighed into the silence, looking through his bag to find his phone which he had left behind when he went to the hospital. He realised with a pang of guilt that he hadn’t texted Ned _or_  MJ to explain what had happened, and so set about doing so while sat on his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its not a real chapter of IAGBTB if peter isnt storming off somewhere


	58. 58

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the evening.

Returning to the kitchen, Tony sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Peter had barely eaten anything and the doctor really wished he had all the medical supplies needed to feed the boy intravenously at home. While cleaning up the kitchen and putting the leftovers in the fridge, Tony began debating on how to get Peter to eat.

The entire texting thread with Ned and MJ took about an hour to get through, what with all of their constant questions. He had to lie and say that he was still at their apartment, but didn’t feel up for the two of them coming to visit until May was back from the hospital, which they understood. He felt so bad about lying to his friends, but it was either that or telling them that he was staying with his former doctor. He flopped back onto the bed and covered his eyes with his forearm, letting himself relax for a little bit as he tried to calm down. He instinctively went to reach for Spidey for comfort, but realised with another pang of guilt that he had left the stuffie downstairs.

Once Tony had gotten the kitchen sorted out, he dried his hands on the kitchen towel and paused when his eyes fell upon Spidey. The stuffie was sat on the kitchen island, looking quite lonely and out of place without Peter. But, in a way it added so much warmth to the kitchen, despite it’s black fur and Tony blinked a few times before picking it up. Thinking for a few seconds, the doctor realised bringing the stuffie to his owner was the perfect excuse to speak to Peter. The doctor headed upstairs and went to knock on the guest room door. ”Peter, you forgot someone in the kitchen.”

It was almost like the doctor could hear Peter’s thoughts. He got up slowly off the bed and shuffled to the door, but made no attempt to open it just yet. He took a deep breath, and then spoke. “Is he mad at me? For forgetting him?” He asked, his hands fiddling with the hem of his sweatshirt.

Tony blinked a few times, a little taken aback by the question. He guessed that Peter was not sure what age he wanted to be, which wasn’t an uncommon feeling for people doing age regression therapy. ”No, he is pretty understanding. But, he is wondering if you’re okay or not?” The doctor said, playing along with Peter’s little game in the hopes of getting the boy to talk.

Peter wiggled his toes against the carpet and scrunched his face up, deciding how best to answer. “I- Not really. ‘m just tired, I think. But like... not physically tired, you know? Mentally.” He knew that Stark was just asking after him, but he felt bad for slamming a door in his face, so he complied. “‘m sorry.” He said quietly, though whether it was to Spidey for leaving him in the kitchen or to Stark for being difficult, he wasn’t sure.

Tony nodded as he listened, even though Peter couldn’t see him. ”Spidey understands and says you don’t have to apologise.” Tony said with a smile on his lips, relieved that the boy was talking to him. ”Can I come in?” The doctor asked after a moment of silence.

Peter hesitated, but then decided to slowly open the door. He gripped the door handle tightly, and allowed him one quick glance up at Stark before his gaze fell back to the floor in embarrassment. “’m sorry.” He said again, even though Stark had literally just assured him that he didn’t need to apologise. He chewed on his bottom lip anxiously, his cheeks a light pink colour and his eyes wide as he stared at the floor.

Tony eyed Peter fondly and smiled at him. ”It’s okay, Peter, you have nothing to apologise for.” The doctor assured, but did not make a move to enter the room yet.

Peter nodded nervously, his hand coming up to tug at his bottom lip. When he looked up and saw that Stark was watching him, he only blushed brighter. “Do you... wanna come in?” He asked, taking a step back to clear enough space for the man to enter if he wanted to. He also saw the stuffie dangling from Stark’s hand and smiled softly at it.

”Sure.” Tony smiled and stepped into the room now that Peter had given him permission. ”Here’s your buddy.” The doctor smiled and handed the stuffie to its owner.

Peter took Spidey back graciously and held it tightly to his chest, his fingers rubbing against the stuffie’s fur. He turned and headed further into the room when Stark came in, though sensed Stark’s hesitation and took hold of his hand to tug him over to the bed to sit. Once they were both sat on the bed, Peter watched him quietly, like he was trying to say a thousand things at once but none of them were being voiced. “I-I’m sorry for yelling. Y-You don’t… don’t deserve it, not when you’re being s-so nice ‘n letting me stay here til… til May’s better.”

Tony couldn’t help a smile when Peter took his hand and let himself be led to the bed and sat down. He kept the boy’s hand in his and ran his thumb over the back of his hand. ”It’s okay, Peter, it’s understandable that one lashes out during emotional times like this. But, it’s very nice of you to apologise still.” The doctor explained gently as not to startle Peter now that they were talking again.

Peter just shrugged in response, pointedly avoiding eye contact with the man so that he didn’t get overly embarrassed. He shifted so that he was sat in a lotus position with one hand outstretched to hold Stark’s, and the other in his lap clutching Spidey. “I- It’s just… it isn’t fair.” He mumbled, meaning a whole range of things with it. For some reason, in this state, all Peter wanted to do was apologise until his tongue fell out of his head. He had said it enough times, however, and so simply sat quietly with his hand dwarfed in Stark’s.

”What do you mean?” Tony asked, sensing that Peter was deep in thought. He continued to rub the boy’s hand in his own to keep him grounded.

Peter took a moment to answer. “It’s just… with everything that’s happened, you know? First my… my parents, and then Ben, and then… and then everything at the facility, and now May? Like… what did I do to piss the universe off this much, you know?” He huffed out a sad laugh. “What did I do…?”

”Do you blame yourself for what happened to your parents, Ben and May?” Tony asked gently, trying to keep his anger at the world for hurting Peter in check.

Peter simply shrugged in response, though it was pretty clear what he thought the answer was. The implication hung heavy in the air between the two of them, and the boy simply fiddled with Spidey’s legs to distract himself. “What else could it be?” He said quietly, a rhetorical question that punctured the silence.

Tony felt his heart rip into two at the question. Many of his patients had asked the same question, but there was something else with Peter that made Tony’s blood boil. He debated on what to say in return quickly. ”Sometimes awful things just happen without reason. All that has happened to your family, Peter- none of it is your fault. You were a child and it would be cruel to hold you responsible for something like that.” The doctor argued without explicitly saying which incidents he was talking about. They both knew.

“I know that.” Peter said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “It’s just… one after the other, you know? It’s like I’m a punching bag, just…” Peter reached behind him to grab a pillow and punched it once, then again, and again, to show his point. “Over and over. Like, once is enough, but if it just keeps happening again and again, doesn’t that mean something?” He said, finally looking up at the man with pained eyes.

”And what do you think it could mean?” Tony asked, still keeping his tone soft even though he hated what Peter was implying. It wasn’t uncommon and Tony had heard it all before, but why Peter?

“I’unno.” Peter shrugged again, now looking down at the pillow which had a crease where he had punched it repeatedly. “Maybe the big guy’s out to get me.” He snorted lightly, sticking his finger up towards the ceiling to indicate that he was pointing at God. “Maybe I deserve it. I dunno.” Peter tossed the pillow back behind him and drew his knees up to his chest to rest his chin on his kneecaps.

”That's a pretty common thought for people in similar situations to yours. But, that does not mean it is true. No one deserves to go through the things that you have and neither do you.” Tony argued, feeling his possessiveness nearly get out of control. It wouldn't be long till he would have to hold Peter close to be sure the boy was okay.

“I guess.” Peter said quietly, falling silent after that. He was filled with an odd numb feeling, one that had taken grip of his entire body. If it weren’t for that, Peter guessed that he would have started crying now, but instead he simply gazed out in front of him. His thoughts were moving slowly through his head like molasses, completely different from usual where he struggled to keep up with them. He noticed that Stark was still watching him and so he glanced over to look back with wide eyes.

Tony felt his heart jump into his throat when he met Peter’s eyes. There was an emptiness in them that the doctor could not explain, but despised deeply. Was it too much to ask of the universe to just let this sweet boy be happy? ”I want to protect you.” Tony admitted quietly, lifting a hand to stroke at Peter’s cheek very gently like he was a statue to be admired.

Peter couldn’t resist the sad smile that tugged on his lips when Stark said that, and tilted his head so that he could press his cheek into the palm of the man’s hand. “You said that last time.” He hummed, shutting his eyes and enjoying the feeling of Stark’s hand caressing his face. “Thanks for… for listening to me.” He said, opening his eyes to look at the man once more.

”Yeah, I remember...” Tony said softly, continuing to stroke Peter’s cheek as he remembered their session when Tony was overwhelmed with the urge to protect the boy from everything and anything. Since then, he had felt that urge quite a few times, including now. ”And of course I’ll listen, it’s my job.” The doctor chuckled, although the setting was far from professional.

 “Yeah, but... it’s not your job _now_. You’re at home.” Peter said, tilting his head one way and gazing at the man carefully. It seemed that Stark had difficulty separating his job from his home life, and Peter suspected that this was only the tip of the iceberg. However, he didn’t say much else about it and brought his hand up to rest on top of Stark’s, pulling it down and away from his face and resting it in his lap.

 _But, you’re here_. That’s what Tony wanted to say, but wasn’t sure how Peter would take that and nodded as he shrugged one shoulder. ”Would you like to try some more food?” The doctor asked, changing the topic now that he sensed it was over when Peter thanked him for listening.

Peter pursed his lips as he thought about it, and then slowly nodded. “Yeah. I, uh, I think I need it.” He said, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a grin at the doctor. He began poking the man’s knuckles again, making his hand form a fist and then pressing on his fingers to flatten his hand out again.

”That’s good.” Tony smiled, feeling very relieved that they wouldn’t have to fight more about the food. For now at least. ”Shall I heat up more of that mac and cheese or would you like something else?” He asked and let Peter play with his hand again.

“Mac ‘n cheese is fine. Don’t wanna force you to make something else if I’m barely gonna eat it.” The boy said quietly, still fiddling with the man’s fingers. For some reason he really liked Stark’s hands, liked seeing the contrast between the man’s calloused fingers and veiny hands with his own smooth, lily-white palms. He looked up to see Stark watching him and blushed, gently pushing the doctor’s hand back towards him.

”I would be more than happy to cook for you, Peter, but as you wish.” Tony assured and stood up from the bed, offering his hand out to walk the boy back to the kitchen. ”Don’t forget your buddy this time.” The doctor reminded and gestured to Spidey on the bed.

Peter was about to take Stark’s hand, but the reminder about Spidey had him swivelling on the bed to reach and grab him. He tucked the stuffie safely under his arm, and then hopped off the bed and took the man’s hand. He couldn’t help the soft smile that graced his features when he felt how tightly the doctor’s hand wrapped around his own, like he was afraid to let go. All Peter could do was hold him back just as tightly.

Squeezing Peter’s hand in his own once, Tony led the way to the kitchen and then let go of the boy’s hand. He went to the fridge and got some of the leftovers onto a plate before placing it in the microwave. After a minute or so, he took the plate out and set it on front Peter along with a glass of water. ”There we go.” The doctor announced with a smile.

Peter let go of the man’s hand to take his usual seat, propping Spidey up on the kitchen island as always and waiting patiently for his food to be re-heated. Once it was in front of him, he was less apprehensive about eating, and so shovelled some of it into his mouth. He swallowed his mouthful quickly, and then spoke. “Tomorrow’s Monday, right? Do you… Are you going into work?”

”Yeah, I am. 8 am, sharp. And that’s something I want us to talk about.” Tony said and went to sit opposite Peter on the kitchen island. ”Do you feel like going to school?” The doctor asked.

Oh dear. Peter forgot to tell Stark about the whole school situation. “Hah…  that’s, uh, that’s the thing. I’m… not allowed back…?” He said, his face turning into a grimace as he watched the doctor for his reaction. “I-I have to retake the year cos I missed so many lessons. I was gone for like, two months. May got a letter while I was at the facility.” He mumbled, the memory of his one-sided argument with May on Friday night making his hands shake.

”Ah, I see.” Tony said with a nod of his head. The same thing had happened to some of his previous patients, so it was nothing new, but once again the doctor felt his heart growing heavy at the thought of Peter having to go through more trouble. ”How are your grades?”

“They’re fine!” Peter said indignantly through a mouthful of macaroni. “That’s what I don’t get! They’re fine, but apparently there are too many absences so I have to retake anyway.” He grumbled, swallowing down his mouthful as he speared the next few pieces of pasta onto his fork.

”Have you spoken to the administration about this?” Tony asked, curious to know more because in his opinion, going back to school and having a routine would benefit Peter. The boy never mentioned that school was troublesome during therapy either.

“I wanted to.” The boy’s voice got quieter as the conversation made him think about that last argument with his aunt. “I wanted to, and I-I tried to convince May to let me do it, b-but she thought it wasn’t a good idea. That’s… We argued about it the night before she… you know.” Peter let out a shaky breath, trying to steady the hand that held his fork.

Tony nodded as he understood what Peter meant. ”You know you can make those decisions for yourself, Peter? You’re over 18 now. If you want to talk to your school about not retaking, then that’s completely up to you.” The doctor explained, keeping the focus on the school part of the conversation rather than May. He figured the boy did not need another crying fit.

“I know, I know.” Peter said, twirling the fork in between his fingers. “But cos I’m living with her, and she takes care of me, I wanna make sure that she’s happy with what I’m doing and stuff.” He explained, spearing another piece of macaroni on his fork. “Maybe once she’s better. It’s all a bit of a mess right now.”

”You don’t want to make her unhappy?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at Peter.

Peter nodded, looking down at the plate to see he had almost finished his mac and cheese. He hadn’t realised how much he had been eating while he was talking to the doctor, but now it was nearly finished. He ate the last few mouthfuls of pasta and then pushed the plate away from him. “Something like that.”

Tony was pleased to find that Peter finished his plate without a fuss. However, he doubted every meal would be this easy. ”What do you think will happen if you go to school and try to arrange something so that you don’t have to retake? Because it seems like me like you don’t want to retake, is that correct?” The doctor asked.

“I… I don’t know what’ll happen. They might let me talk to them, I dunno. The letter said something about ‘extenuating circumstances’, and if it applies then I can go and speak to them, but… I might just wait until May comes home so that we can talk it through properly.” Peter said, placing his fork on the now empty plate and looking back up at the doctor.

”What’s your timeframe with this? Is there a due date of sorts?” Tony asked, trying to get a better picture of what the school actually wants from Peter and what is required to not have to retake a year despite so much absence. Tony would gladly write another note to help Peter with school.

“I-I don’t know, I can’t remember. I would show you if I had the letter on me, but I don’t.” Peter said, starting to drum his fingertips against the table in annoyance. His eyes flitted all over the kitchen, and then onto Spidey, who seemed to be watching him with his beady, plastic eyes.

”Where’s the letter then?” Tony asked, noticing that Peter was growing nervous. The doctor hoped that making a plan would calm him down a bit.

“Back at the apartment.” Peter replied shortly, still looking at Spidey. “Can we… talk about something else now? I d-don’t really wanna think about school at the moment, not when May’s…” He trailed off, pulling down on his lower lip with the tips of his thumb and index finger.

”Okay, I understand that you don’t want to talk about this, but I still think it is important that we do it anyway.” Tony explained, reaching his hand to take Peter’s hand. ”Tomorrow, while I am at work, I think you should do a few things, okay?” The doctor started gently, trying to catch the boy’s eyes to see whether he was okay with the idea or not.

Peter saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned his head just in time to see his hand covered in both of Stark’s. He didn’t move his arm away, but watched the doctor with way eyes. After a few milliseconds, he slowly nodded to show he was listening, and looked up at the man’s face.

 When Tony saw that he had Peter’s attention and the boy did not immediately run away despite being uncomfortable, he began explaining his plan. ”I think you should drop by at home, find the letter and go to school to meet with one of your teachers or the prinicipal. I don’t think you have much time to with this whole thing.” The doctor suggested and gestured to the situation in general with his free hand while holding Peter’s hand in the other still.

Peter couldn’t help his face morphing into a grimace, and he looked at the doctor dubiously. “I...” He was about to argue, but his words died in his throat and he was left gazing at Stark hopelessly. He knew it was a good idea, but he couldn’t help but be worried about how May would react to finding out that he was going back to school despite her wishes. Doctor Stark did raise a good point though, that technically he was 18 and thus could make his own decisions. He finally nodded. “O-Okay.” He mumbled, his eyes dropping to where Stark’s hand held gently onto his own.

Tony studied Peter closely while he thought about the suggestion. The doctor almost sighed in relief when the boy gave in. ”That’s great, Peter. And while you’re home, you can pick up some more clothes and such, yeah?” He added with a smile.

The boy nodded, squirming on his seat a little as he began thinking about what he had to do tomorrow. His eyes were still on Stark’s hand, and he flexed his fingers inside the man’s grip. “What now?” He asked, looking up at the doctor’s face. Peter could see the sun setting past the kitchen window out of the corner of his eye, but kept his gaze on the man’s face.

Pleased that Peter had agreed to go to his school the next day, Tony shrugged one shoulder. ”Whatever you want.” The doctor said honestly, as he was very much happy knowing Peter would be occupied the next day and taking charge of his future. Peter chose what to do next fairly quickly and leaned into catch the doctor’s lips with his own in a sweet kiss. One kiss turned into a hot making out on the sofa while the house was drowned in the golden setting sunlight.


	59. 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> their separate days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made a starker blog! sunflowerstarker.tumblr.com - richie

Tony had woken up at 6:30 am, like always, and went out his routine. Usually, he didn’t have to worry about making noise as he lived by himself, but suddenly the doctor was hyper aware of all the noise he made while get got ready and ate breakfast before heading to work. Every now and then, he would glance up the stairs and listen if he had woken up Peter. All the worrying about the boy made Tony late to work by a few minutes. But, why did Pepper have to come in exactly today to witness him being late.

”Morning, Stark. Rough night?” Pepper teased with a smile as she stood by the main entrance, looking as stunning and badass as ever.

”Good morning. Just a bit late, is all.” Tony explained hastily, growing nervous by his boss all of a sudden. ”Anyway, what are you doing here?” The doctor asked, as Pepper was rarely ever seen at the facility, even though she ran the whole place.

”Just some paperwork and such. Rhodey needs me to sign something to keep one of his patients for another week.” Pepper explained as they both headed to the staff room.

”Ah.” Tony nodded. If Pepper was needed for that, it meant the patient was going to be kept against their will.

”What about you? I hear your newest one has been giving you some trouble.” Pepper chuckled and glanced over at her employee.

”Oh, Keener, yes. He’ll break soon enough.” Tony said with a confident smile. Both Pepper and Tony turned to look when they heard jogging steps behind them and saw Thor coming to a halt by them.

”Hey, boss, Doc. Harley is not looking too good.” The nurse said with a frown. The deja vu just kept coming and Tony found himself missing having Peter at the facility.

Dropping by his office quickly to fetch his lab coat and such before joining Thor and Steve in one of the halls where Harley was. ”Fuck off! No- I’m not talking to you for shit!” The boy shouted when he saw Tony approaching.

”Harley, what’s going on?” The doctor asked calmly while the two nurses were standing ready in case Harley tried to run or became violent.

”You guys are trying to get me all fucked up! Like- like, all drugged up and- and it’s all fucked up!” Harley argued, but Tony did not budge.

”We are giving you meds to get better Harley. If you are experiencing side effects, we can talk about them and get you a new combination of meds.” Tony explained calmly, hoping that it would calm the boy down, but he doubted it as Harley probably just wanted an excuse to blame his situation on anybody but himself.

”You don’t give a shit about me.” Harley snapped, taking a step closer to the doctor with his fists clenched by his side. Both Steve and Thor came forward so that they could grab the boy if needed.

”Harley, you have to calm down.” Steve said, but that seemed to push the boy over the edge as he tried to punch the nurse, but Thor was faster and got the boy’s arms. Tony watched with mild interest as the two nurses wrestled with the screaming boy until he burst into tears of defeat.

Once more, Thor and Steve helped a sobbing Harley to Tony’s office to talk. It seemed that the doctor had overestimated Harley and Peter’s similarities, as Harley was clearly fighting a lot more than Peter had ever done. Still, Tony enjoyed a challenge, but not even a tough challenge like Harley distracted the doctor enough from letting his thoughts trail back to Peter.

Oh, how they had made out on the sofa just the night before. The noises that Peter had made.

However, then Pepper somehow popped into his head and he broke into a sudden cold sweat. If she ever found out that Peter was staying at his place right now... Perhaps Tony should just let Harley kill him before that could happen as the boy clearly seemed capable of murder based on the look on his face as he sat in the doctor’s office.

”I won’t say shit.” The boy spat.

”But, two weeks is an awfully long time to stay silent, isn’t it? We don’t have to talk about the hard things just yet.” Tony assured.

\---

The next morning, Peter rolled out of bed at 10am again. Doctor Stark had told him the previous night that he would be leaving for work at about 7:30am, so Peter wasn’t concerned when he headed downstairs and found the house empty. Instead, he let some music play through the speakers of his phone as he searched through the cupboards of the kitchen for his breakfast. He was also planning the day’s events in his head, but every so often his mind would be distracted by thoughts of Doctor Stark that left him flustered. It took him a while to get everything ready, but soon he was heading out of Stark’s house with a spare key and his backpack slung over one shoulder to make his way back to his apartment.

Peter didn’t know the neighbourhood he was in particularly well, but common sense and a bit of Google Maps helped him to eventually find the nearest bus stop. He travelled by bus to his apartment, and let himself into the building. Once he was in the actual apartment, he set about collecting more things that he would need while he was staying at Stark’s house. Clothes got shoved into his backpack, and for a brief moment he considered bringing his laptop, but ultimately decided against it. He also made a quick stop to grab the letter from his school off of the kitchen table, and after giving the apartment a quick once-over to make sure everything was in order, Peter left the apartment to go to school.

It took another half hour for Peter to get to school from his apartment. He managed to sprint to catch the train just before it was leaving the station, and so he was out of breath for a few minutes as he clung onto the handhold nearby. Once at the school, he suddenly realised just how nervous he was to be entering again. It seemed so huge and daunting to him, but he shook his head and cursed at himself for being a coward. He went up the main steps, rather than around to the basketball court like he had done this last week or so, and headed inside.

Peter’s plan once he got into the school was relatively simple. All he had to do was speak to the receptionist and ask her if he could speak to the principal, and then go from there. However even that was proving to be difficult as before he could approach the office, Flash Thompson suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a wicked grin unlike the Cheshire Cat. Peter squared his shoulders and let a huff of breath out through his nose.

“Flash.” He simply said in greeting, only watching as the other boy’s smug grin got wider.

“If it isn’t Penis Parker. They finally let you out of the loony bin, huh?” He drawled, and Peter really had to suppress the urge to immediately punch the boy in the face.

“They discharged me from the facility, yeah.” He said, hoping this conversation would end soon so that he could continue on his way to the office.

 “It was a shame they did, really. That weird stench in the hallways was finally beginning to clear up while you were gone.” Flash sneered, crossing his arms with his nose upturned to Peter. “What’re you back here for? I’ve seen you sneaking around the basketball court, waiting for your ‘friends’, it made me think the school put a restraining order on you. You know, health and safety and all that, can’t be having freaks running around here causing chaos.”

Peter’s face began to heat up and he clenched his fists, but ultimately let out a shaky breath and shoved past the boy to keep walking towards the office. Flash, however, began to walk with him, berating him the entire walk there.

Peter’s head was spinning and his ears were ringing with anger, and by the time they had gotten to the office, he had had enough. He turned swiftly on the balls of his feet to face Flash, who watched him with a haughty look. “You know, _Eugene_ , your ass must get real jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth.” Flash’s smug grin was momentarily wiped off of his face, and that gave Peter the encouragement to keep talking. “Do you think I _want_  to be here, stood in the corridor talking to you? No. I have shit to do, so leave me the fuck alone.” He spat, before turning again and knocking on the receptionist office door. He headed inside before Flash had the chance to respond, and sighed when the door swung shut behind him.

Peter approached the desk and smiled nervously at the receptionist, who looked up at him expectantly. “I-I was hoping to speak to Principal Davidson? I-I got a letter explaining I have to retake the year, but I-I want to repeal it.” The receptionist simply nodded and gestured for Peter to sit in a chair nearby while she picked up the phone to call the principal. The boy’s leg began to bounce against the floor nervously as he waited, but soon he was invited into the principal’s office. He took a deep breath, then stood up and followed the man into his office.

\---

A bit after 4, Tony finally clocked off and headed home after a long day of tending to Harley and some other patients. He spent just a few moments in his Alfa, breathing deeply as he felt his tiredness kick in, but then he remembered that there was someone at home waiting for him and the doctor headed off. After a short drive, Tony arrived home and was pleased to find the lights on. It seemed... cosy, and Tony smiled softly as he entered his home. ”Peter?”

The talk with the principal had gone well, better than expected, and the boy was invited to continue with school in two weeks. It would’ve been sooner, but Peter had requested that it was pushed back a little bit so that he could help May with her recovery once she left the hospital. Peter was buzzing the entire journey back to Stark’s house, and once inside he had thrown himself onto the couch and turned on the man’s Netflix. Flash’s nasty comments continued to run wild in the back of his head, but he tried his best to ignore those as he watched a third episode of Futurama in a row. The doctor’s voice floating in from the hallway made Peter’s heart skip a beat, and he called out “In here!” towards the door.

Hanging up his coat and setting his briefcase by the bottom of the stairs to bring to his office later, Tony headed to the living room and found Peter on the sofa. ”Hey. You seem to have figured out the essentials here.” The doctor said, gesturing to the TV.

Peter couldn’t resist the smile that spread across his face when Stark came into the living room. Even just _seeing_  the man was enough to put him in a better mood. He looked over at the TV, then back to the doctor. “Essentials, yeah!” He snorted, nodding along. “You don’t mind, do you?” He asked, knowing that while Stark had technically given him the okay to use his Netflix, he had only ever used it once, when Stark was in the room. He shifted along the couch and patted the cushion expectantly, making space for Stark to sit down if he wanted to.

”Of course not.” Tony assured with a smile, moving to sit next to Peter on the sofa. ”So, what are you watching? I have treat teens like you all day, but I have no idea what is ’hip’.” The doctor said with a laugh and smiled softly at the boy by his side. He had no idea how he had spent all day missing Peter at the facility, when this was where he belonged, on a sofa somewhere watching Netflix all day and not locked up somewhere.

“’Hip’?” The boy parroted, giving the man a side-eye glance with an eyebrow raised in amusement. “I can tell you now that saying ‘hip’ isn’t… isn’t ‘hip’. And this is Futurama, this has been around for years. It’s made by the same people who made the Simpsons, but it’s better.” He hummed, not hesitating to shuffle further up the couch and then flop over so that his head was now resting in the man’s lap. “It’s all set in the future, in the year 3000.” He mumbled, snorting at the TV as Bender the robot constructed a help message out of rocks on a desert island.

Tony smiled fondly when Peter flopped down on his lap and immediately lifted his hands to stroke the boy’s curls. ”I see.” The doctor nodded and watched the screen for a few moments. ”So, what did you do today?” Tony finally asked, anxious to know if Peter had managed to do what he had suggested the day before. He spent some of the car ride thinking about what to say to Peter in case he didn’t go, but also in case he went.

Peter squirmed to tilt his head into a position where Stark could reach the most sensitive points of his scalp, and sighed in satisfaction when he felt the man’s fingertips graze his head. “I, uh… I went home ‘n got some more clothes ‘n stuff, and then I went to school to speak to the principal about me continuing with school and graduating this year.” He said, his eyes still focussed on the screen in front of them. “He said I could.” He mumbled, letting the words hang in the air between them for a moment.

Tony listened intently as Peter talked about his day and chuckled in relief at hearing the final bit. ”That’s great, Peter. Well done! I’m so proud of you!” The doctor gushed with a genuine smile and moved down to plant a kiss on the boy’s lips. ”You went even though your aunt didn’t want it!”

Peter smiled back, squeaking in surprise when the doctor suddenly leaned down and kissed him. It was weird, even though they spent the evenings making out on Stark’s couch, each new kiss surprised Peter and made his heart skip a beat. “Yeah… so I start back in two weeks. It would’ve been sooner but I wanted to be home when May gets home from the hospital, you know?” He explained, turning so that he was now looking up at Stark instead of sideways at the TV.

”Yeah, that sounds fair.” Tony agreed with a nod and with a smile still on his face. ”And you’ll tell your aunt about this?” He asked further, genuinely feeling so proud of the boy on his lap. He wondered how long it would take Harley to get to the same point as Peter.

“I don’t think I really have a choice.” The boy laughed nervously, kicking his legs up onto the arm of the couch so that he was completely stretched out.

_Can’t be having freaks running around here causing chaos._

Flash Thompson’s nasal voice rang in Peter’s ears and the smile dropped from his face as he turned to look back at the TV. He hoped Stark hadn’t noticed, though he knew that very little got past the doctor.

”Hmm, I guess.” Tony hummed. ”What? You fear your aunt will get mad?” He asked, noticing how Peter’s face dropped.

Shit. “No, no, ‘s not that…” Peter paused for a second. “I, uh, I saw someone at school today. His name is Flash, I can’t remember if I’ve told you about him or not. He’s… he’s not really nice to me, and today he was… he was being a prick.” He said quietly, his eyes on the TV but not actually watching what was happening.

”Yes, I remember him.” Tony said quickly, feeling his heart rate pick up just a bit when he remembered some of the things that Flash had said to Peter. ”What did he say to you?”

“What did he say… he said- He said that they should’ve kept me in the ‘loony bin’ as a favour to wider society, that a straight-jacket would fit me better than the hoodie I’m wearing right now, that my friends are only my friends so that they can brag that they know a genuine nutcase… Uh, what else…” Peter listed, unable to stop his voice from becoming harsher and harsher with each word. He wasn’t being harsh to Stark, but rather his voice sounded like each insult was acid corroding his tongue.

Tony swallowed thickly as he listened to Peter list all the awful things this Flash had said to him. ”Did you say anything back?” The doctor asked, trying to keep his anger in check to help Peter analyse the situation better.

 “I said that his ass must get jealous of the shit that comes out his mouth, and then I told him to fuck off.” Peter said quietly, Flash’s voice still ringing in his ears as he watched the TV. “It’s fine, he’s always like that.”

Tony reached over for the remote and paused the episode. He wanted all of Peter’s attention. ”That doesn’t sound fine at all, Peter. Those were some vile things he said to you.” The doctor pointed out.

Peter made a whine of complaint when Stark paused the episode of Futurama, the screen now frozen on Bender’s face. He reached up to grab the remote back, but Stark was holding it too far for him to reach. “It’s nothing, it’s just Flash being a prick like he always is. You can’t change that about him, it’s one of the few constant rules in life. The sun rises in the East, you can’t sneeze with your eyes open, and Flash is an ass.”

Tony chuckled a little at Peter’s clever comment before turning more serious, setting the remote far enough that Peter couldn’t reach it. ”Peter, I can tell that you’re upset. Anyone would be upset if someone told them just one of the things that Flash said.” Tony argued, very much aware that Peter was trying to change the subject, but the doctor was a firm believer in that talking helped. And it had clearly helped Peter at the facility, so why not continue the same way?

Peter frowned when he saw the doctor place the remote far away from him. “Fine, maybe I am upset. It doesn’t matter anyway, I’ve been dealing with him since kindergarten. Maybe it’s his love language or something.” He mumbled, turning his head so that he didn’t have to look Doctor Stark in the face any longer.

”Have you told anyone about it?” Tony asked, not liking how Peter was hinting at that Flash’s bullying was inevitable. Knowing the boy’s poor self esteem, he might think he deserves the abuse.

“No.” Peter admitted quietly, bringing his hand up to his face and scratching at the underside of his chin. He then began drawing patterns onto the doctor’s knee with his finger-tip, mostly just random squiggles and shapes. “Nobody would really believe me, he’s a straight-A student and his dad is like, super rich, so he donates a lot of money to the school. They wouldn’t want to sabotage that.” He explained.

”But, you did speak up to him today. Do you do that often?” Tony asked, letting Peter draw on his knee. He could allow the boy to fiddle at least a bit while they talked.

“N-No, not really.” The boy said quietly, but then suddenly snorted. “He looked like I had slapped him when I told him to fuck off. I just… I couldn’t listen to him any longer, not with everything else going on.” Inwardly, Peter hoped that he would never forget the look of Flash’s gormless face when he had finally spoken up. “I tend to just keep quiet so that it doesn’t attract more attention.”

Tony hummed as he listened. ”What made you speak up against him today then?” The doctor asked, pleased to hear that Peter was beginning to behave differently than he had in the past.

“I dunno, I was already pretty highly-strung before I go to school. I guess seeing him while I’m that stressed just made my fuse like… a millimetre long, so I just snapped. I don’t have to see him for a while now anyway, unless he tries to kick my ass by the basketball court… That’s where I’ve been meeting up with Ned and MJ while I wasn’t allowed back in school.” Peter explained, now re-drawing the same star shape on the man’s knee over and over again.

Tony nodded, pleased to hear that Peter was keeping in touch with his friends. ”So, something has happened. You didn’t just let Flash abuse you, but instead you stood up for yourself. I think that’s very brave of you, Peter.” The doctor pointed out with a little smile, moving his hand to stroke the boy’s curls to emphasise the praise even more.

Peter simply shrugged with the shoulder that wasn’t laying against the couch in response to that. “You think everything I do is brave…” He mumbled, not unkindly but in a tone that clearly suggested that the boy didn’t believe him. He moved his hand up from Stark’s knee to find the hand that was resting in his hair, and wriggled his fingers in so that they were now holding hands on top of his head.

Tony smiled at how Peter took his hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. ”Well, not _everything,_ everything. But, I still mean it. Standing up to a bully is no easy task.” He said before adding. ”You stood up for yourself today, Peter, both by talking back to Flash and by going to the school to get back in class. You should be proud of yourself.”

Peter shrugged again, but he could feel a blush beginning to climb up his cheeks. He couldn’t tell whether it was out of being embarrassed or pleased at the praise he was being given. “Can we… can we talk about something else now? How was work?” He asked, though he had a feeling that Stark wouldn’t tell him much due to “patient confidentiality”. That particular phrase made a cold flush run through him, as he remembered one of their old arguments.

Seeing Peter’s blush, Tony figured that the praise had finally gotten to him and the doctor leaned back, deciding not to push the matter further. However, when the boy asked about work, Tony did not answer much. ”It was all right, a bit tiring, but it was all right.”

Peter frowned at that. “Has, uh... Has anyone ever told you that you’re quite reserved?” The boy asked quietly, quickly glancing up at the doctor to gauge his expression. “You don’t really talk about yourself a whole lot. I mean, I get it cos you’re a psychiatrist ‘n stuff, but... you’re not on the job right now. You can say what you want, you know?”

 _But, I am on the job_ , Tony thought to himself as he looked at the boy on his lap. If he wasn’t taking care of Peter for the sake of his mental state, then what were they doing? Tony chuckled a little nervously and looked around to come up with an answer. ”I mean, I guess I am reserved. I just- find it more interesting to listen to others.” The doctor shrugged.

Peter could tell that he had made the doctor nervous by asking him that, but decided to have mercy on him and not press further into the subject. He had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time that they had this conversation. “That’s fair.” He said quietly, and then untangled his hand from Stark’s to try and reach for the remote again. When he failed to reach it, he put on a cross pouting face.

”What’s the magic word?” Tony teased, picking up the remote and holding it out of Peter’s reach. He was quite relieved that Peter did not ask more and that they could save the talk about what they were doing for another time. Or perhaps they would never have to talk about it once May was out of hospital and Peter would go back to school.

Peter narrowed his eyes at the doctor, and then suddenly leaned up to kiss him. As he distracted the doctor, his hand shot up to grab the remote out of his hand. He finally pulled back when he had the remote securely in his hand and grinned cheekily, before pressing play so that the episode of Futurama continued playing.

”Oh, you little...” Tony grumbled once he realised the trick the boy had pulled on him. After stealing a kiss himself, Tony rose from the sofa. ”Have you eaten today? And taken your meds?”

Peter giggled against the man’s lips when he stole a kiss, and dropped his head back down onto the couch cushion when Stark got up. “I did, yeah.” He nodded. “Have youuuuu?” He asked, smiling up at the man who was currently upside down in his view.

”Yes, I did.” Tony chuckled at Peter’s childish but adorable act. ”I’m starting dinner in a bit, but you can just keep watching if you want.” The doctor said and gestured to the TV. He was about to ask about homework, but then thought better of it as Peter was not going back to school yet, so he might as well just spend the time till then relaxing.

Peter nodded in response, before finally turning his attention back to the TV. He watched one more episode of Futurama, but his attention was slipping and his eyes were drooping. Soon he had drifted off to sleep, his hand curled up by his face as he laid across the couch.

40 minutes later, Tony had finished dinner and set a table for two by the kitchen island. ”Peter! It’s ready.” He called out, but frowned when a minute passed and he got no response. Walking into the living room, the doctor found the boy dozing on the sofa and chuckled softly as he moved to sit next to him. ”Peter.” Tony said gently, running his hand through Peter’s curls in the hopes of waking the boy.

Peter couldn’t remember much of his dream, but he knew it had been a good one. He was brought out of his doze by a hand ruffling his hair, and he blinked a couple of times dazedly as he squinted up at the doctor. “St-Stark...? What... what time is it?” He asked, his words a little slurred as he sat up on the couch. His hair was stuck up on one side as a result of lying flat on the couch, and he rubbed at his eyes for a moment. “Is it food?” He asked.

”Curry chicken and rice.” Tony answered with a soft smile on his lips as he watched Peter return from dreamland. ”And it’s just after six.” He said and got up from the sofa to let the boy get up too.

 “Oh... That sounds good.” Peter mumbled, rolling off the couch and standing up. He stood on his tip-toes to stretch his limbs out, and then followed Stark into the kitchen. He padded along the carpet and sped up a little to catch up with the doctor so that he could hold his hand for the very short walk to the kitchen island, and then hopped up on the seat and waited patiently for Stark to sit as well.

Tony smiled a little at how Peter reached for his hand like a little child would before moving to sit on his spot. They ate in comfortable silence when Peter wasn’t talking more about some Gen Z shows that he had watched or was waiting to be released. Tony listened intently with a soft smile on his lips. After dinner, they cleaned up together and ended up on the sofa, watching a movie on Netflix before both began to head for bed.

Peter enjoyed dinner with Stark, and found himself to be rambling about anything and everything while the doctor listened. Maybe it was better that the man preferred listening, as it meant that Peter could explain the concept of the TV series Community without being interrupted. After they had finished the movie, Peter went up to bed. He had already gotten changed into his pyjamas after dinner, and so it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep once he had clambered into bed.


	60. 60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to @commandernova for helping us with this chapter, please check out her work on tumblr and ao3!

After saying good night, and sharing a sweet kiss, Tony and Peter both headed to bed. Usually, the doctor had no trouble falling asleep with his busy work schedule, but tonight he lay awake for quite a while. His head was spinning with what Peter had said on the sofa about him being ‘reserved’. Perhaps the boy had a point, but Tony just did not feel the need to talk about himself. His patients’ lives were more than enough for him to spend most of the day thinking and talking about. After an hour so of laying awake, Tony finally fell asleep.

Despite initially falling asleep quite easily, Peter's sleep soon became fitful as his subconscious started filling itself with memories of Flash’s insults to him earlier that day, and images of May laying bed-ridden in hospital. He couldn’t make any of it out clearly, but the confusion of it all only made him more scared and soon he was sat upright in bed, panting for air. The size of the bed made him a little uncomfortable, having all this space to himself, and so he climbed out of bed with Spidey in hand and made his way to Stark’s room.

The hallway seemed so much _bigger_  at this time of night, and Peter could feel himself shrinking and hunching his shoulders as he stepped out into the hallway. He clutched Spidey tightly in his arms, and slowly began to tiptoe over to Stark’s room. Luckily, none of the floorboards under the carpet seemed to creak, and so Peter was able to get to Stark’s room without making much noise. The image of May bedridden had burned itself into his retinas, and that was the encouragement he needed to slowly push the man’s bedroom door open. “D-Daddy…?” He said quietly, the title slipping out before he could stop himself from saying it.

Tony was never a heavy sleeper and so he woke to a soft voice. Sitting up and cracking his eyes open, Tony saw Peter in the doorway to his room. ”Hey, what’s up?” The doctor asked, his voice rough with sleep and mind already running with all sorts of possible scenarios and what to do to make sure Peter was okay.

The boy gulped when the doctor replied, shifting his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly as he stood in the doorway. “I… I had a nightmare.” He admitted quietly, fidgeting with Spidey in his arms. “Don’t wanna… don’t wanna sleep alone, bed’s too big… ‘s scary…” He was mildly aware that his voice seemed to be getting more and more childlike with each mumbled word, but he didn’t particularly care.

Tony didn’t even hesitate with pulling the covers back on his bed and patting with mattress with his hand. ”Come sleep next to Daddy then, little one.” Tony said softly, knowing the signs that Peter was regressed or at least slipping.

Peter hesitated when Stark pulled back the covers, but eventually stepped further into the room and let the door close gently behind him. He paused again when he reached the bed, but a quick glance at Stark’s face, who was watching him expectantly, had him clambering onto the mattress and shuffling under the covers. At first he tried to stay a little ways away from the man, but he couldn’t stop himself from inching closer and closer until he was close enough to be pulled into the man’s embrace.

”Come on, then.” Tony said with a soft chuckle as he got comfortable on the bed again, pulling Peter close to him. ”You want to tell me about your nightmare?” The doctor asked quietly once they had both settled.

Peter sighed contentedly when Stark’s arms wrapped themselves around him, and he turned so that he could tuck his head under the man’s chin. At that very moment,  he felt safer than he had done in weeks, and he was grateful for it. “’s just… May. I miss her.” He mumbled quietly.

”Hmm, I get that.” Tony hummed and moved his hand up and down Peter’s back to comfort him. ”You’ll see her soon.” He assured quietly, sensing that Peter was tense against his side.

The boy shivered when the doctor’s hand began to move up and down his back, but relaxed into it quickly. He was still tense, though, being this close to the man and being held by him so tightly was making him a little light-headed. “’nd Daddy doesn’t mind me here?” He asked quietly, making doubly sure that he was welcome in the man’s bed.

”Of course not, sweet boy.” Tony chuckled, turning his head to plant a kiss on Peter’s forehead. ”Daddy doesn’t mind at all.” He assured, loving the feeling of a warm body next to him. After all, he spent most nights alone.

Peter smiled to himself, knowing that he was wanted in the man’s arms. “Night night…” he mumbled quietly, yawning mid-sentence as exhaustion hit him again. He was soon fast asleep once more, one arm holding onto Spidey and the other wrapped around Stark’s midriff.

Tony chuckled softly as sleep seemed to be tugging Peter back into dreamland rapidly. Placing one last kiss on the boy’s forehead, Tony settled back against his pillow and fell asleep swiftly too feeling very much content with Peter in his arms.

\---

Peter had hoped that the rest of the night would pass quickly while he was asleep. However, his constant awareness of the doctor sleeping right next to him, the body heat radiating from him under the covers, and even the fact that the bed smelled like him was enough for Peter to get uncomfortably hot under the collar in his sleep. His dreams for the next hour all involved Stark in one way or another, and soon he was roused awake by his own dick, which had become hard while he was asleep. Not only that, but in his sleep he had managed to scoot even closer to the man than before, his head tucked against Stark’s chest and one leg thrown over his thigh. The friction of Peter’s dick against Stark’s thigh when he moved ever so slightly made him whimper, and he wondered how the fuck he was going to get out of this with any sliver of dignity left.

About an hour after he’d let Peter crawl into his bed, shaking from a nightmare, Tony found himself awake again, woken up by quiet noises coming from the warm body next to him. Groggily he opened his eyes, wondering if Peter was having another nightmare, which would explain the noises, but that thought was quickly shattered when he felt the clear, hot line of an erection pressed against his thigh and _oh_. That was definitely interesting. Briefly he considered pretending not to notice, to let Peter have this last shred of dignity, but he knew neither of them would be going back to sleep until this “problem” was resolved.

“Peter...” Tony mumbled as he turned around to face the boy.

Peter had his eyes squeezed shut, desperate to try and fall back asleep so that his erection would go away, but when he heard Stark’s rough baritone voice cut through the silence of the bedroom, his eyes flew open. “I-I’m sorry...!” He whispered, already beginning to scoot away from the doctor. God, this was mortifying. “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t... I didn’t mean for it t-to happen, I-I-I-“ He stammered, cursing himself for ever thinking it was a good idea to climb into the man’s bed. “P-Please don’t get mad.” He said timidly. Even though the room was pitch black, Peter was refusing to look up at the doctor out of sheer embarrassment.

“Hey... It’s okay, you’re okay,” Tony reassured quietly, reaching up to soothingly run a hand through Peter’s messy curls. “I’m not mad or freaked out. It’s completely normal. You’re young, you got hormones, I get it.” Tony kept petting Peter’s head softly, trying to calm the boy’s anxiety. Honestly he was surprised that Peter was still hard with how much he was panicking, but he figured that could be blamed on his age. “You can say no if you want to, but do you want me to help you out with your little problem?” He asked, slowly cupping Peter’s flushed cheek to make eye contact.

Peter froze at that. What... what did help mean?

Was he going to jack Peter off?

Oh God, the thought of Doctor Stark’s hand on his dick made Peter keen. He was so lost in the thought of it that he didn’t resist the man’s attempt to make eye contact. Even in the darkness, Peter could see the man’s shining eyes, and for a split second all he felt was trust. “Y-Yes. Please, yes.” He nodded, whimpering again when Stark’s thigh shifted and caused more friction against his dick. “J-Just... Just go slow, I’ve never...” It was something they had discussed before, the fact that Peter was a virgin, and now that they were in this position that was all the boy could think about.

He trusted Stark though, trusted that he wouldn’t do anything weird or go too far, and he wanted Stark to help him.

Tony couldn’t help but be surprised when Peter actually said yes, but the quiet noise that spilled from Peter’s lips made something stir in his gut, and he didn’t get too much time to think it over. “Of course, little one, of course,” he promised, sliding his hand down Peter’s chest and cupping the boy’s erection through his underwear, a small damp spot already starting to stain the fabric. “Just relax and let me do all the work, okay? Just breathe...” He dipped his fingers into Peter’s waistband almost teasingly, determined to take it slow and make it good for him. He didn’t want to traumatize Peter during his first sexual act with another person, and a part of that was for selfish reasons, because he did want to do this again. The idea of making Peter moan beneath him, watching him squirm from his touch, made his head spin with arousal. “Just breathe,” he repeated as he wrapped his fingers around the boy’s aching cock.

Peter's breath hitched when he felt Stark's hand on his chest, and for a brief moment he wondered if that was how he reacted to the man's touch that far from his dick, how would he react to when Stark actually touched him... there? He brought his hands up to clench the doctor's pyjama t-shirt, and gripped tightly when he felt the man's fingertips dip below the waistband of his sweatpants. Finally, Stark's hand came into contact with his dick, and the moan from Peter's lips was so high-pitched and broken it was as if only dogs could hear it. The feeling of Stark's hand was incredible, not just because he was doing something with another person, but because that person was Doctor Tony fucking Stark. He tilted his head forward to rest it on Stark's shoulder and took a deep breath, as instructed, before nodding to signal that the man could begin to move his hand if he wanted.

 _Fuck_. Tony couldn’t hold back a quiet groan. Peter made the most gorgeous noises, all high-pitched and desperate and Tony had barely even touched him. He had to keep reminding himself to take things slow, because Peter was delicate, but he couldn’t wait to make more of those noises spill from the boy’s lips. Once Peter had given permission to move his hand, Tony started stroking him almost gently, keeping his grip loose, but still tight enough to stimulate. “There we go...” he mumbled, carding his free hand through Peter’s hair. “Such a good boy, doing so well,” he praised, swiping his thumb over the sensitive, leaking head of Peter’s cock. “Does it feel good, little boy?”

Peter's jaw was so slack that his mouth fell open and stayed open, huffing little breaths as he tried to control himself. He had to swallow down saliva that was pooling in his mouth, and at one point bit down on his lip when a particularly loud moan threatened to escape from him. His hips rocked, clumsily at first as he tried to determine the rhythm that Stark was stroking him at, but soon they fell into it and Peter was left whining into the man's shoulder. "F-Feels... ah... Feels s-so good, ngh..." He whimpered, his eyes squeezing shut once more as he lost himself to the feeling of Stark's hand around his dick. Every time the man's thumb teased the head of his cock his breath hitched, and it took a couple of seconds for him to regain some pretend sense of stability while the man touched him.

“Yeah?” Tony asked, his voice sounding breathier than he could remember, but he couldn’t help it. Peter drove him crazy with the way he moaned so beautifully, little whines and gasps that went straight down to his cock, along with little, desperate thrusts of his hips that only encouraged Tony even more. “Such a beautiful boy... So pretty,” Tony purred against the heated skin of Peter’s neck, and if this had been a normal situation and he’d been with anyone else he’d be tempted to leave a mark on that perfect pale skin, but this was Peter. Peter was different, small and precious like a little bird, and Tony wanted to protect and cherish him. “Doing so well, pretty boy...”

Peter could barely form words, the feeling of Stark's hand on his dick completely frying every last brain cell in his head. His knuckles were turning white with how tightly he was holding onto the man's t-shirt, and his head was spinning with the praise that Stark was murmuring in his ear. "Ah, ah, ah..." A thin sheen of sweat began forming on the boy's skin, a droplet running down his forehead and down the side of his face. He was getting close embarrassingly quickly, and he could only hope that Doctor Stark wouldn't tease him for it. His thrusts into the man's fist began to get more sloppy and random as he got closer and closer, and he began babbling under his breath.

By the way Peter’s moans heightened in pitch Tony could tell that the boy was already close, desperation on his face as clear as day. It was cute, and definitely arousing to know that it was so easy to get Peter to the edge. “So sensitive,” Tony murmured, rubbing his thumb over Peter’s slit just to watch him squirm. He tightened his grip just a little and started speeding up his strokes, determined to give Peter the best orgasm of his young life. “It’s okay, little one... You can let go for me,” Tony said, resting his free hand between Peter’s shoulder blades, rubbing reassuringly.

“Please, please, please...” was all Peter had been saying under his breath before Stark gave him the go ahead to cum, and the affirmation that he could was the only thing needed before Peter arched his back and let go. His moan came out just as broken as before, and his eyes were still just as squeezed shut. He came with a cry, unable to stop his release from landing on Stark’s hand and wrist. He felt like his entire body was melting into the mattress with how _good_ it felt, and Peter was almost certain he had never cum like that in his life. He gasped for air when it was finally over, slumping against the man and panting through his mouth. “Th-Thank you...” He mumbled quietly, his hair damp and sticking to his forehead with sweat. He probably looked a mess right now, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Peter looked absolutely gorgeous when he came, back arching and face screwed up in pleasure. Soft, desperate noises spilled from the boy’s lips as he tipped over the edge and Tony’s own cock was definitely very interested in the way the boy was moaning brokenly, but he couldn’t push too far just yet. He’s survive. “You don’t have to thank me, baby...” Tony said quietly, smoothing Peter’s messy hair back with his fingers. “You did so well... Such a good boy, came so pretty for me.” He pressed his lips to Peter’s sweaty forehead and pulled him close.

Peter continued to gasp for breath for a minute or so, but when he was pulled in he could feel the doctor’s own erection, and that made his breath hitch. He looked down and even in the dark, he could see a shadow of it tenting Stark’s sweatpants. It would be impolite not to offer, right? “D-Do you... do you want, uhm, want me to... to do it back?” He asked, cringing at how awkwardly he had asked the question. Then again, there was no real comfortable way of asking “Do you want me to give you a handjob”, so it would have to do. He was overheating just slightly, and the cooling mess of cum on his stomach was slowly making his stomach turn, but for now he gazed up at Stark with wide eyes.

God, Peter looked so innocent when he looked up at him with those big eyes, and Tony felt just a little weak. "It's alright, Peter, I'm good." He smiled fondly and shifted to get more comfortable, only to notice the mess between them. "Hold on, I'll clean us up so we can fall asleep comfortably, okay?" He was already moving to get up as he was speaking, not giving Peter the chance to protest, but he figured the kid wouldn't appreciate falling asleep with cum all over him. Tony made his way towards the bathroom and came back not much later holding a damp towel. It was clear that the orgasm had worn Peter about, because his eyelids were drooping already, his body splayed out on Tony's bedsheets. It was a good look on him. He quickly cleaned up the mess on Peter's stomach and tossed the towel into the laundry basket, before climbing back into bed.

Peter cried out weakly in protest when Stark began to shift away from him, but he was so boneless at that point that he could only watch the man get up and head to the bathroom. He simply laid on the bed with his head tilted back, his chest rising and falling with soft pants and his skin still covered with small droplets of sweat. He didn't realise how sensitive he was until Stark began to gently pat him down with the damp towel, letting out a whine when it passed over his dick to clean it, and his back arched ever so slightly. He let the doctor clean him up while he laid there like a sack of potatoes, and when he finally got back into bed Peter wasted no time in shuffling closer to him and burying himself into the man's side. "Thank you..." He mumbled once more, even though Stark had told him that he didn't need to thank him for it.

“You’re adorable,” Tony whispered, wrapping his arms around Peter’s skinny waist and pulling him close. Inside he silently prayed that this wouldn’t be the last time, that he’d get more opportunities to explore Peter’s body, because now that he’d heard the boy moan like that he knew there was no going back. He was addicted to the look Peter got on his face when he came, the way his breath hitched so desperately, and Tony knew he’d never get enough. For now though, there was silence, Peter falling asleep in his arms, and Tony figured he should do the same. “Goodnight, pretty boy,” he said, lips pressed to Peter’s neck, before drifting off to sleep.


	61. 61

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slow progress with strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a reminder i made a starker blog over on tumblr: https://sunflowerstarker.tumblr.com/ - richie

Peter awoke the next morning in a daze by Tony’s alarm. It took him a couple of seconds to remember where he was, and even longer to recognise what the noise currently blaring in his ears was. When he looked over and saw Tony also starting to rouse, the memories of the previous night came rushing back and caused Peter to blush a beetroot red. He rubbed at his eyes groggily and debated whether to just go back to bed or not, but he couldn’t resist watching the man wake up.

Tony groaned quietly when he heard his alarm go off and reached for his phone a little clumsily. With a sigh, he flopped back down and realised that he wasn’t alone. ”Morning.” He said quietly, chuckling at how Peter seemed to try and bury himself as deep as possible in the pillow.

“Hi.” Peter mumbled nervously, trying his best to seem natural. Was this… weird embarrassment normal with everyone after they did that kind of stuff? “’s too early…” He said weakly, a flimsy excuse for why he was currently trying to dig himself back under the covers and hide like he was some kind of mammal preparing for hibernation. He looked away from the doctor when he realised that he was being watched, his cheeks only becoming more heated.

Tony hoped that Peter did not regret what had happened during the night and that it was the reason why he appeared so flustered. ”It is a bit early, yeah, but you can just sleep in like yesterday and then I’ll be back later.” Tony explained, placing a hand on Peter’s back and stroking up and down like he had during the night.

Peter flinched when Tony began stroking up and down his back, but quickly calmed down like nothing had happened. “You want me to… to go back to sleep? Thought you’d wanna… spend your mornings with me… How rude…!” He teased, but his voice slurred and it was evident that Peter was trying his best to stay awake despite the enticing pull of sleep.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s attempt to be funny and patted his back before leaning down to meet the boy’s eyes. ”But, you look so sleepy. You were up all night, so no wonder.” Tony teased with a half smirk, waiting for Peter’s reaction to him poking fun at what they had done during the night.

Peter’s eyes had been half-mast up until that point, desperately trying to stay awake, but the man’s teasing suddenly made him as awake as anything. He looked up at the man and saw his smug smirk, and made a face like he was trying to be angry but was too amused to do so. “Shu’ up. ‘s your fault, Pervert…” He said in response, narrowing his eyes playfully at Tony.

Tony narrowed his eyes back at the boy and held back a growl at the word he seemed so fond of preferring him by. ”Oh, my fault? I distinctly remember you humping my leg, so I’d say the fault is yours.” The doctor teased back, placing his hands on either side of Peter’s head to hover over him.

Peter’s face only continued to flush darker, and he tried his best to hold eye contact with the man for as long as possible even though every cell in his body was screaming at him to look away in embarrassment. “Nuh uh. Th-That was your fault. Your leg was in my way.” He mumbled, his eyes finally darting from side to side when he realised that he was now caged in with Tony’s hands on either side of his head.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s response and leaned down to kiss his forehead. ”Well, either way, I have to go to work. What are your plans today?” The doctor asked, still hovering over the boy.

Peter didn’t know what he expected, but it definitely wasn’t a forehead kiss. He settled back against the pillow and gazed up at the man, pursing his lips as he thought about what he had to do that day. “Oh, it’s Tuesday, right? I gotta go see Strange at 11.” He said, his eyes widening as he remembered his appointment. “I dunno what I’ll do after, though.”

”Just hang around? Aren’t you teenagers pros at that?” Tony joked, rising from the bed to head to his closet to find clothes for work.

Peter snorted. “‘You teenagers’? First ‘hip’ and now this? You’re really doing a good job at relating to the youth there.” He teased. He couldn’t resist peeking at the man as he looked through his closet, biting on his lip when Tony pulled his pyjama shirt off and Peter could see the toned muscles of his back. He quickly turned away from the man like he had been caught red-handed staring, and let the man have some peace while he found his trousers. “I dunno. Maybe I’ll see if Ned and MJ are around, I haven’t seen them since last week.”

Tony went about changing like usual even though he felt Peter’s eyes on his neck. Despite it all, he wasn’t flustered, but rather smug when he remembered what had happened during the night. Finding a belt that would match his shoes, Tony turned around to face Peter on the bed. ”I think that sounds like a plan. The best thing for you right now is to keep yourself occupied and moving.”

Peter hummed in agreement, still not looking at Tony until he was certain he no longer heard the shuffling sounds of the man getting dressed. He rolled over in bed to look at him, stretching his limbs out so that he covered the entire mattress. “For now, though, ‘m sleeping… I don’t have to be at Strange’s for a couple of hours…” He mumbled, closing his eyes and squirming to sink deeper into the pillow he was resting on.

”You do that. I’ll see you later.” Tony said with a little smile as he watched Peter get comfortable on the bed. He wished he could stay and cuddle with Peter all day. Leaning over the bed again, the doctor placed another kiss on the boy’s forehead. ”And remember to eat and take your meds.” He reminded, stroking back Peter’s hair as he gazed down at him.

“I know, I know…” Peter huffed fondly, rolling his eyes up at the man. He reached his hands up to squish Tony’s cheeks together, but then dropped them and rolled over onto his stomach to get more comfortable. “Don’t wanna be late for work, Pervert.” He grinned, closing his eyes once more so that he could rest for a little bit longer.

Tony grumbled fondly before leaving the bedroom, giving Peter one last smile before closing the door and getting ready for work. And Peter turned out to be right, as Tony was once more late to work due to the boy’s breathy whimpers from the night before ringing in his ears.

Peter awoke about two hours later, and with nothing else to do he decided to get out of bed. He didn’t /really/ want to, the bed was so large and warm and comfy (and smelt of Tony, his monkey brain supplied), but if he didn’t get up soon he was going to be late to Strange’s session. He made himself breakfast and got dressed and ready to leave the house, making sure to bring his wallet and the spare key, before heading out. He had Strange’s office bookmarked on Google Maps, and so he soon arrived by bus at 10:45am. He entered the building and took his seat in the waiting room, his leg bouncing nervously as his brain fed him the memories of last night on a feedback loop.

Strange checked the clock on the wall in his office and saw that he would soon have to let Peter in. After double checking that everything was in order and moving the legos closer to Peter’s spot, the doctor headed out of his office and smiled when he saw the boy. ”Hello.” He greeted simply.

Peter was so lost in his own thoughts that it took him a second to realise that someone was now stood in front of him. He flinched and looked up, but then relaxed when he saw that it was Doctor Strange. “Oh, h-hi. Is it 11 yet? I kinda got here early…” He mumbled, looking over at the clock where it showed 10:55am. He rose from the seat slowly, like he was making sure it was the right thing to do, and glanced over at Strange’s office door which was slightly ajar.

”It is 11, yes.” Stephen said and then followed Peter’s gaze up to the clock in the waiting room. ”Oh, that one is late by five minutes. I keep fixing it, but it just goes back to being slow.” Stephen chuckled with a huff. ”Shall we?” The doctor suggested, gesturing to the office and heading in after Peter.

The boy nodded, already beginning to walk into the doctor’s office. The first thing he zoned in on was the box of legos on the low-lying table between the two armchairs, and his lips twitched into a small grin at that. He didn’t say anything about it though, instead simply moving to sit in one of the chairs with his hands folded on his lap. He glanced around the room to see if anything else was out of the ordinary, but everything seemed fine.

Stephen went to sit opposite Peter in his usual spot and studied the boy for a second. Hair was more or less tidy and his clothes were clean where he sat upright and alert. ”So, how have you been since we last spoke?” Stephen started.

That was going to be an interesting question to answer, Peter thought to himself. “Uhh… A lot has happened? I… Okay, how do I start this…” He said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “May… Me ‘n May got into an argument, and then… then she got attacked at work so she’s in the hospital.” He didn’t mention about how Tony had taken him in. If Strange found out about that, it would be… Peter didn’t even want to think about what would happen if Strange found out.

”Hospital? Was she badly hurt?” Stephen asked, frowning just a bit at the awful news. He would ask about the argument in a bit.

“Y-Yeah, she… she got stabbed. It was by some drunk guy who came into the hospital, apparently he attacked a whole bunch of people, not just her.” He said quietly, looking down and fiddling with his hands. “She had to be taken to the ER, and then she had surgery, and now she’s staying at the hospital.”

”I see.” Stephen nodded thoughtfully. ”And when did this happen?” He asked and added. ”And how long does she have to remain in the hospital?” The doctor asked, hoping to get a timeline and examine Peter’s current living situation.

“It happened on…” Peter paused, counting back the days on his fingers. “Saturday evening. I saw her on Sunday, and the doctor there said that she’d be in the hospital for a minimum of five days while she recovers from the surgery. I was planning on going to see her tomorrow, maybe bring some… some flowers or something. I forgot to do that last time.”

”I see.” Stephen nodded before continuing. ”Are you home alone now then?”

Shit. Act natural about this one, Pete. “Y-Yeah, I am.” He said a little too quickly, shifting minutely in his chair. “My, uh, my neighbour comes over sometimes to see how I am, but yeah. Home alone.” He lied, chewing on his lip. He hoped to every possible God that existed that Strange wouldn’t call him out on his bullshit.

Stephen noticed Peter’s sudden nerves right away, but figured it was due to worrying for his aunt. ”That’s good, that’s good. It’s important to keep in touch with people during such times. Asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of.” The doctor explained.

Peter nodded at that while his conscience huffed a sigh of relief that Strange hadn’t picked up on his terrible lying skills. Maybe he was better at it then he thought. “Yeah, I… I told Ned and MJ what happened, but I said I didn’t really want them coming over til May was back. Just so that I can sort myself out, you know?”

”And how do you sort yourself out? What have you been doing the last few days?” Stephen asked further.

“Uh…” Peter balked for a moment. What would he be doing if he was in the apartment by himself? “Just, you know… stuff. I’ve been staying in the apartment most of the time, but I went to school yesterday for a bit.” That suddenly reminded him that he hadn’t told Strange about the whole situation regarding school.

”For a bit?” Stephen asked with a raised eyebrow.

Here we go. “Yeah. It’s, uh, a bit of a long story but… basically cos of all the absences from school while I was at the facility, the school said I’d have to retake a year, but they said that I could go in and make a case to repeal it, so I did. That’s why I went in yesterday.” Peter said. “That’s, uh, what the argument with May was about.”

Stephen nodded as it all was starting to make sense. ”And what was the argument like?”

“It was…” Peter grimaced as he was reminded of it. “It wasn’t really an argument, if I’m honest. She wanted me to retake the year, and when I found the letter saying that I could repeal it if I wanted to, I… I bombarded her with all these questions and she just kinda snapped at me. It was my fault, she was tired from work and… and I just wouldn’t stop talking about it.”

”Wait, what did this letter say?” Stephen asked. ”And when did you get it?” The doctor was not entirely getting the whole picture.

 “It said that cos of all my absences, I would have to retake the year. That’s what May told me it said, anyway. She didn’t tell me about the letter until I got home from the facility, but she apparently got it in the post a few days after I had been admitted. She didn’t tell me that the rest of the letter said I had a right to speak to the school about it if it was extraneous circumstances, cos she just wanted me to retake the year.” Peter explained.

Stephen nodded and made a hum as he looked at how Peter seemed to slump a little where he sat. It seemed like he didn’t take it so well that his aunt had not been entirely truthful with him. ”So, that is what you argued about?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. She, uh, she lost her temper with me and that was the last thing we spoke about before she... before she got stabbed.” He said quietly, his hands beginning to twist and fidget in his lap. He kept glancing over at the box of Lego’s occasionally, wishing that he had a couple of pieces to fiddle with while he talked, but ultimately didn’t say anything about it.

Stephen noticed how Peter’s eyes became drawn to the legos by the table and smiled a little. ”You can play if you want, Peter.” The doctor assured, knowing that having something else to do could make conversation easier.

The glances between the box of Lego and the doctor’s face became rapid fire as Peter debated it. “Are you sure...?” He asked, and when Strange nodded again he tentatively reached forward to open the box and take out a handful of Lego. He placed the handful on the table and began to construct something random, his tongue poking out between his lips in concentration.

Stephen gave Peter a moment to start building something before he began asking again. ”So, to me it sounds like your aunt has not been entirely truthful with you regarding school. Is that correct?” When the boy nodded silently in reply, the doctor added. ”How does that make you feel?”

Peter hummed in thought. “Made me feel... I dunno. I know she was just lookin’ out for me, cos I guess schools stressful and all, but... I know she wanted me to get better, and isn’t going back to school a sign ‘m getting better?” He asked rhetorically, his eyes not moving from the little Lego creation he was working on.

”Could be, yes.” Stephen answered, but did not say more as he did not feel like he knew Peter well enough to answer that properly. ”Seems like you and your aunt have a disagreement there.” The doctor pointed out, although it was very much obvious.

 “Duh.” Peter couldn’t help muttering under his breath sullenly, but then winced at himself. “Sorry, I... I didn’t mean to do that. Stark used to point stuff out the obvious stuff like that all the time, ‘n I could never help myself.” He mumbled, quickly looking up at Strange to see how he reacted.

”That’s all right.” Stephen chuckled and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture to show that no harm was done. ”But, tell me more about this argument.” The doctor prompted so that they would get back on track.

Peter shrugged. “I don’t really know what else to say. She didn’t tell me that the letter even existed for two weeks, and then... and then when I got a chance to read it, and I found out that I could go to the school and like... overturn the decision, or whatever, I tried to ask her to let me do it and she wouldn’t let me. But like I said, it was my fault it even turned into an argument, cos she was tired from work and I just wouldn’t drop it.”

”Why wouldn’t you drop it?” Stephen asked.

 “I-I was just angry. Angry ‘n... ‘n I wanted answers, but I should’ve known to drop it.” Peter mumbled, his hands shaking a little bit as he clutched the Lego tightly between his hands.

”To me that sounds like you feel guilty for what happened to your aunt. Is that correct?” Stephen asked, noticing how Peter was growing more nervous.

Peter didn’t say anything in response to that, he simply nodded while staring determinedly at the lego in his hands. He had stopped building now, but what he had made had no real structure to it, it was just a lump of bricks put together. “It… It was the last thing we spoke about before she got put in the hospital. I-I was so scared that it was the last thing I would have ever said to her.”

”Hmm.” Stephen nodded and looked sympathetically at the boy. The doctor eyed the lego structure for a bit. He wondered whether Peter couldn’t focus on building something due to being so upset or whether he was having trouble regressing to actually let himself build as he pleased. ”But, you went and saw her, right? Did you talk to her?”

“Mhm.” Peter nodded again. “She, uh… She was kinda out of it. She had surgery that night, apparently, so she was super tired ‘n stuff. Like, we said goodbye and we hadn’t even left the room before she had fallen back asleep.” He said, remembering how exhausted his aunt had been when he visited. “’m gonna go see her tomorrow though. Hopefully she’ll be more awake.”

Stephen nodded as he listened. ”Are you going to talk about the argument with her?” He asked next.

“Maybe, I… I dunno. I’ll probably wait until she leaves hospital, you know? Don’t wanna put her under more stress while she’s there.” Peter explained, now beginning to take the lego structure apart so he could build something more cohesive.

”Hmm, sounds like a good point.” Stephen agreed, giving Peter a moment to figure out what he wanted to build. ”You built with legos a lot at the facility, didn’t you?” The doctor asked.

Peter nodded a little more enthusiastically this time, glad that they seemed to be moving on to talking about something else. “Yeah. Me ‘n…  Da- Stark used to build with ‘em all the time. Race cars ‘n stuff. Me ‘n Loki used to build with ‘em too, we made a house once.”

Stephen noticed how Peter almost called Stark his ‘Daddy’ and took it as a positive sign that the boy was regressing. ”A house you say? How did it turn out?”

“It was good. Lo did the house, ‘n then I did the car and the outside. We found lil’ people to put around it as well, they looked like us.” Peter explained, still not taking his eyes off of the lego he was holding. He was starting to build another car, like he always did.

”That sounds like a sight.” Stephen smiled when Peter seemed to relax more. ”You said Loki was there. Did you spend a lot of time together while at the facility?” The doctor asked, remembering from Tony’s notes how Peter had become friends with Loki.

“Yeah! He didn’t like me at first, but then we became friends. We would spend our free time together, like he’d be in my room or I’d be in his… they let us do joint therapy together too. Sometimes we got in trouble though.” Peter said, blushing a little at the memories of he and Loki breaking into Tony’s office, and the scene in the cafeteria.

”Trouble, huh?” Stephen asked with a smile, pleased to hear that Peter actually made a friend while at the facility. ”What did you get up to?”

“Uh…” Peter chewed on his lip, debating whether or not to be honest about what he and Loki had done. He wasn’t in the facility anymore, so it’s not like it could hurt him, right? “We… We broke into Stark’s office once. I left my stuffed spider in his office, and I was mad at him but didn’t wanna go back ‘n get it while he was there, so we snuck in while he was gone to get it back.”

Stephen hummed at the revelation, almost a little impressed as he knew how nearly all the doors in the facility required a keycard to open. ”You were mad at Stark. Why was that?”

“Uh…” Peter knew exactly why he had been mad at Tony. It was back when he thought the attraction was only one sided, and that Tony had no interest in him at all. Looking back on it, Peter could only assume that it was the doctor vainly trying to keep his dignity by appearing professional, but at the time Peter didn’t know that. “It was, uh… it- it doesn’t matter now.” He mumbled.

”You sure?” Stephen asked. ”Did you have trouble regressing or did he say something that upset you perhaps?” The doctor tried digging in the hopes that Peter would tell him. He wouldn’t want to repeat Tony’s mistakes and cause Peter to run off again.

Peter shook his head fervently. “I- He- It…” He gulped nervously and began to fidget in his seat. “I-It’s fine. It doesn’t matter anymore, it was… it was something stupid.” He said, his eyes flicking up to Strange’s face for only a second.

”All right.” Stephen said and sat back in his seat, deciding that he shouldn’t push the matter further. He gave the boy another moment before speaking again. ”What have you built?”

Peter huffed a tiny, almost unnoticeable sigh of relief when Strange dropped the subject, and took a couple of seconds to put the finishing touches on his creation before holding it up at eye level so that the doctor could see it as well. “’s a car.” He said simply, a little smile on his face as he looked at it. There was a moment of hesitation, but then he leaned forward to offer it to the doctor for him to look at.

With a smile, Stephen took the lego car into his hand and studied it closely. ”That looks awesome. I love the details around the engine at the front.” The doctor praised. ”You’re really good at making cars, Peter.” He added before handing the car back.

Peter’s smile only got wider when Strange praised him, and he began to squirm in his seat like he was unsure of what to do with all the nice things that the man was saying to him. “Thank you.” The boy said bashfully, blushing profusely. “I like making ‘em.” He shrugged, taking the car back and also looking at it closely.

”I can tell that.” Stephen said with a smile. ”Perhaps you’d like to make more on Friday? I’m afraid our time is running out for today.” The doctor said.

“It is…?” Peter furrowed his brow for a second, and then turned to see that the clock on the wall read 11:56am, indicating that their session was soon over. “Oh… Yeah, that’d be nice.” He nodded. He looked down at the car one more time, and then began to break it apart into its constituent blocks. Rather than just completely smashing the thing up, he was methodical with how he broke each piece of individually, and soon the pieces were back in the box. “Thanks, Doctor.”

”You’re very welcome, Peter.” Stephen smiled. ”And I hope your aunt makes a speedy recovery.” He added, rising from his seat to lead Peter to the door.

Peter got up as well, and murmured a “thank you” when Strange gave his well wishes. He headed out of the office and out of the building with a slight spring in his step from the man’s praises.


	62. 62

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> evenings spent together.

After the session, Peter decided to treat himself to a McDonalds which he knew was a 10 minute walk from the building. Usually he would be too nervous to be seen sitting by himself in a McDonalds, but he knew that he wouldn’t be seeing anyone from school there so he enjoyed his food while he was there. He then headed back to Tony’s house and took a quick shower before situating himself in the living room.

Tony got to leave work a bit early as he had worked overtime a few times. While driving back home, the doctor was a little surprised over just how giddy he felt knowing that Peter was waiting for him again. Parking his Alfa and heading in, Tony removed his coat and placed his briefcase on the staircase once more before heading into the living room. ”Hey. Netflix again?” Tony teased, seeing Peter so comfortable on the sofa.

Peter squeaked in surprise when he heard Tony’s voice, turning on the couch to see the doctor stood by the door. “H-Hey! You’re back early.” He said, smiling brightly. “Yeah, Netflix again…” He mumbled, glancing over at the TV where he was watching an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. “How was work?”

”It was all right. Had some trouble with a new kid, but should be all right soon.” Tony answered briefly, moving to sit next to Peter. ”How was your day? How did it go with Strange?” He asked, changing the conversation back to Peter instead.

Peter shuffled on the couch to make room for the doctor to sit. “It went alright. We mainly talked about May, ‘n then he let me play with Lego and we spoke about stuff in the facility for a little bit. Then I got lunch, came back and now ‘m here.” He said.

”That’s good, that’s good.” Tony nodded, pleased to hear that Peter had gone to his session. ”What did you make for lunch?” He asked, assuming Peter had come back to make food after his session.

“Oh, I just got McDonalds. There’s one, like, ten minutes away from Strange’s office. I had to take a shower after I came back, though, that stuff smells.” The boy laughed, still watching the TV screen intently.

Tony frowned at that and turned to look at Peter. ”You got McDonalds? You know that's really unhealthy. You could have just come back here and made something. You’re free to use the house while I’m gone.” The doctor explained.

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “It’s not that big of a deal, it only cost like five dollars. It’s not gonna _kill me_ , dude, it’s fine.” He said, the slang inadvertently slipping out but Peter not caring enough to stop himself from saying it. He glanced over at Tony, who seemed to be frowning at him, and Peter gazed back with a similar, but confused look on his face.

”It is a big deal, Peter. That sort of food isn’t good for you, and certainly not considering your mental state. You need real, proper food in you. Not that ‘Golden Arches’ junk.” Tony argued, throwing a dismissive hand in the air when he mentioned the fast food chain.

Peter couldn’t help rolling his eyes at the man. He slumped down against the couch, watching Tony through narrowed eyes. “You’re really being serious about this? It was one time! Calm down, Stark, you’re not my mom.” He said, turning his attention back to the TV but his ears tinged pink.

”No, but I am your doctor, so you better listen to me and do as I say.” Tony argued back, sitting up in his seat to face Peter better. God, he felt like he was raising a moody teenager, which was perhaps exactly what he was doing.

Peter’s jaw clenched when he heard that. He thought they were past that now, that the two of them were on equal footing because of what had developed between them. Hearing Stark refer to himself as Peter’s doctor just proved that he didn’t think the same way, but Peter wasn’t about to call him out on it. Instead, he just huffed. “Fine. I’ll make my own lunch next time.” He said, his shoulders slumping.

”Thank you.” Tony sighed a little in relief, glad that they didn’t have to argue further. They both sat in silence for a while, watching the TV before Tony spoke again. ”And have you taken your meds today?”

Peter nodded. “Took ‘em with breakfast.” He said, suddenly tipping over so that his head was in the man’s lap. Just because he was pissed at him for being an idiot, didn’t mean that he didn’t want cuddles.

”That’s good.” Tony smiled down at Peter, lifting his hand to the boy’s curls to stroke them nearly on reflex. ”Did you do anything else today? Met up with MJ and Ned?” He asked as they continued to watch the TV together.

Peter melted into the man’s touch, sighing softly as Tony’s fingertips swept through his hair. “Nah... Ned had to go visit his grandma, ‘n MJ was doing her charity work today, so... just came back here.” Peter mumbled, his gaze becoming lidded as he relaxed against Tony’s thigh.

”Hmm.” Tony hummed and nodded, looking down at Peter. The doctor smiled fondly as he saw how sleepy the boy was getting. ”Have you had a nap today?” He asked, still rubbing at the boy’s scalp.

“Nah… I thought that if I fell asleep, I might not… might not’ve seen when you came home, so I stayed awake.” Peter admitted quietly. He was struggling to keep his eyes open as he relaxed, the feeling of Tony’s fingers on his head sending him off into a doze. He turned so that he was now looking up at the doctor instead, effectively dislodging his hand from the boy’s scalp.

Tony chuckled at that, moving his hand to stroke at Peter’s cheek while gazing down at him. ”You really need to get back to school.” He half joked. ”Can’t have you laying around here waiting for me all day like a puppy.” He laughed, moving his hand up to rub at Peter’s scalp again.

Peter simply shrugged at that, closing his eyes when Tony’s hand returned to his scalp. “I’mma be there soon. Also, that sounds like you don’t _like_  me waiting for you. Maybe I’ll just take myself off all day, disappear until midnight like Cinderella? Leave _you_  waiting for _me_.” He teased back, a lazy grin spreading across his face.

Tony knew that Peter was joking, but the possibility of Peter fully taking on the stereotypical teenage act and run away frightened the doctor. He hoped he would never have to search for the boy at midnight. ”You’d never. You’re too much of a good boy for that.” Tony teased back, tugging just a bit at Peter’s curls in his grasp.

Peter’s grin was wiped off his face with a gasp as he felt Tony’s hand pull ever so slightly at his hair. His breath caught in his throat, and he gulped nervously before speaking. “A-Am not. I could… I could be a brat if I wanted.” He said quietly, suddenly being reminded of his conversation with Loki back at the facility. The tug at his hair, despite being gentle, had completely derailed him, and he felt a shiver go up his spine.

”Could be... Hmm, I don’t think so. You’re Daddy’s good boy.” Tony specified with a grin, seeing how Peter seemed to be reacting so strongly to a little tug on his hair.

Peter whimpered and quickly covered his face with his hands so that Tony couldn’t see the blush that was starting to bloom on his cheeks. “Nooo…” He argued back weakly, trying his best to ignore how his skin was beginning to prickle with heat at the man’s words. “No fair…”

”What’s not fair?” Tony laughed, ruffling Peter’s hair before stroking it nicely again. ”That I’m just pointing out facts?”

“No, you’re…” Peter didn’t move his hands from his face. “Y-You know what you’re doing! It’s… you’re… ugh!” He suddenly pulled his hands away to glare up at the man exaggeratedly. “You’re so annoying.” He said, but there was no real venom in his voice. They both knew what Tony was doing, how he was riling Peter up while sat there so nonchalantly.

”What? I’m not doing anything? Just stroking your hair, hm? Because that’s what good boys like. And praise.” Tony laughed, watching Peter squirm under him, but did not pull back from his hand. ”Who’s Daddy’s good boy, hm?” The doctor finally asked with a smirk.

Peter huffed, sticking his bottom lip out as he narrowed his eyes at Tony. He could see the smirk on the man’s face even when situated upside down like this. He continued to squirm a little more, and when Tony asked the question he hesitated to answer. “…Me.” He grumbled, looking adorably fed up.

”That’s right. And you’re no brat, just Daddy’s good boy.” Tony said with a laugh, leaning down to kiss Peter on his nose in a teasing manner to belittle him even further.

Peter whined when Tony leaned in and kissed him on the tip of the nose, his hands coming up to bat his face away weakly. “No fair!” He insisted again, suddenly sitting up and manoeuvring himself so that he was now sat on his knees with his hands in his lap, watching the doctor with a pout on his face.

”Now you just sound silly.” Tony teased with a grin, leaning over so that their faces were close. ”How is it not fair to be Daddy’s good boy?” The doctor asked, continuing their little game. After all, he didn’t want to put an end to it yet when Peter was so cute when he was all flustered and pouty.

Peter scrunched his face up when Tony leaned in. He refused to move in to close the gap, the two of them now staring into each other’s eyes like they were daring the other person to look away. “’s not fair cos… cos y-you’re making me. You’re doin’ the thing… y-you know how to make me be good, ‘s not fair.” He said, crossing his arms.

”I don’t see why that’s a bad thing.” Tony shrugged with the smirk still on his lips. ”You being good, that’s a good thing.” The doctor argued simply.

Finally, Peter broke the gaze and looked away to the TV screen where Netflix was now showing the “Are you still watching?” pop-up. “Being good’s boring.” He said quietly, a mischievous grin beginning to spread across his face. “More fun being bad.”

”Oh, don’t you get any ideas, or you’ll suffer the consequences.” Tony laughed and moved to get up from the sofa. When Peter made a whine of protest, he laughed again. ”I have to start on dinner.” The doctor explained.

Peter grinned. “Consequences? What, will you _spank me_?” He drawled, his skin already warming up at the prospect, especially since they weren’t at the facility any more and so it wouldn’t be as detached as Tony used to make it. When he saw Tony moving to get up, he whined and stuck his hand out to grab the man’s wrist. Even after explaining, Peter was still tightly holding onto his wrist.

”I think that would just make you excited, so it won’t work as a punishment.” Tony pointed out, narrowing his eyes at the boy, but couldn’t stop smiling. ”Come on, if you’re so clingy, you can at least help me with dinner.” The doctor said and pulled his arm back, tugging Peter with him an inch or two.

Peter rolled his eyes and huffed, hating that he had been caught by the doctor, but then suddenly yelped when he was pulled across the couch. He nodded at the invitation, and so moved his hand to lace his fingers between Tony’s as he stood up. The two of them headed to the kitchen, Peter swinging their arms lightly as they walked.


	63. 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter visits may again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all of the support you guys have been giving us recently, it means the world. i'm currently v busy with exams which will last til the 19th of june, so if updates are a little late then pls forgive us x

The next day, Peter woke up earlier than usual. He was still floating on the high of the previous evening, where he and Tony had spent their time making out on the living room couch again with Peter lying flat against the couch cushions and Tony leaning over him with a hand snaked up his hoodie and resting against his chest. However, he could feel the nerves of the imminent visit to May’s hospital room. As always, Tony had left the house by the time Peter came downstairs, but he saw that the doctor had left him some money to buy flowers for his aunt. He got ready as usual and then headed out, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

He made a quick stop at his apartment, where he grabbed May's favourite blanket from her bed, then headed on to the florists nearby to the hospital and picked out a small yet brilliantly coloured bouquet of flowers, before heading to the hospital. Once he was there, he took the elevator up to the second floor, as the receptionist informed him that May had been moved out of the emergency floor, and knocked gently on room 204. “May…?” He called out gently, pushing the door open and poking his head inside.

The past few days had come and gone in a blur for May, but finally she was starting to find her sense in the world again. The nurse who came to check on her that morning informed her that they had said that Peter could come visit today. She smiled widely at that and waited impatiently for her beloved nephew. Finally, there was a knock on her door and May tried to sit up in her bed. ”Peter! Oh, baby, come here!” She prompted, or rather demanded and opened her arms.

Peter’s face split into a wide grin when he saw that his aunt was awake and alert, and he hurried into the hospital room. “No, no, don’t sit up, lemme…” He looked around wildly for a place to put the flowers, settling for putting them on the bedside table before he came closer. He wrapped around his arms around May’s shoulders, careful not to hold her too tight in case she was still in pain, and stayed there for a long while. “I’ve missed you so much, are you doing okay?”

”Yes, yes, I’m doing great. Oh, it’s so good to see you.” May sighed, feeling tears beginning to prick at her eyes and squeezed them shut as she hugged her nephew. ”Christ, I’ve missed you.” May repeated again, quieter this time.

 “Missed you too.” Peter repeated in a mumble, holding May for a few more seconds before letting go and moving to grab a chair. “I, uh, I got you these and... and I also picked up your favourite blanket from the apartment so you could have that in here too.” He said, swiveling to grab the bouquet and hand it to his aunt before shoving his hand into his backpack to pull out the blanket and hand that to her as well. “I thought about getting you chocolates but I don’t think the hospital people would want you eating those.”

”Oh, baby, you shouldn’t have.” May smiled widely at the flowers and blanket. ”Oh, you could have at least tried to sneak some in.” She joked with a laugh before studying Peter by her side. ”How are you though, Peter?” She asked, extending her hand for her nephew to take.

Peter laughed at the joke as well, settling against the seat comfortably. When May held her hand out, Peter took it immediately. “I-I’ve been okay. Tryin’ to keep busy, you know? Counting down the days til I could come ‘n see you again too.” He said, smiling gently at his aunt.

May hummed with a smile, blinking slowly at her nephew. She was still pretty high on pain medication, but much better than when Peter first came to visit. ”So, what have you been busy with?” She asked, running her thumb over Peter’s hand.

 “Uhm... not _busy_  busy, but... I mean, I went to see Doctor Strange yesterday. He sends his well wishes, by the way.” Peter said, smiling at how soothing the feeling of May’s thumb rubbing against the back of his hand was. “And I’ve been talking to Ned ‘n MJ, but they’ve been busy so I haven’t been able to see them.”

”Oh, thank you, baby. What did you talk about with Strange?” May asked with a little smile. ”I hope Ned and MJ are doing well though and not stressing themselves out too much.” She chuckled.

 “Nah, nah, they’re okay.” Peter said. “Me ‘n Strange, we... we talked about you being here, ‘n how I was dealing with it, and then we talked about stuff that I used to do in the facility.” He said, shrugging with one shoulder. “What about you, though, what’s it like in here?”

May nodded and was about to ask more, but was quickly distracted my Peter's question. ”Oh, I've been sleeping mostly and been bored.” She chuckled weakly, placing her free hand on her stomach. ”The staff arr really nice, but yeah, I've been terribly bored. Just like you must have been at the facility.” She joked, squeezing Peter's hand in hers.

Peter smiled softly at his aunt’s joke, and nodded along accordingly. “Yeah, it wasn’t fun. I mean, I at least had people to talk to sometimes, but you’re in here by yourself.” He said, gazing around the hospital room. “I should’ve brought stuff to help with your boredom...” he mumbled quietly, turning back to look at May with a sympathetic look on his face.

”It’s okay, baby, I’ll manage.” May assured with a squeeze of her hand. ”It’s just a few more days and then the doctor says I’m good to go home. Have you been taking care of things at home? You know, we really should make the effort yo vacuum more often. It feels so much nicer.”

Peter nodded. Just a few more days, then he’d also have to go home. He wouldn’t be staying with Tony any more. The thought of that, leaving Tony behind again, made an odd weight settle in his chest, but he tried to ignore it for now. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to... been trying to keep it like it was before. Thanks for reminding me about the vacuum cleaner though.” He grinned.

”And have you been eating properly? And taken your meds?” May asked, but did not voice her worries further because in all honesty, that is what she had been thinking about ever since she got hospitalised. Her doctor even said that May must try to not stress as that will just slow down her recovery, but May couldn’t help herself. How could she not when Peter was so poorly?

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. I’m doing all that, I’m taking my meds every morning. You don’t need to worry about me, May, I’m fine.” Peter said, his smile becoming a little sad as he realised that even while May was hospitalised from being attacked, he was still her number one priority. “You don’t need to worry about me.” He repeated, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

”But, I do.” May argued quietly, looking at their hands that were squeezed together. ”I have to worry, because you’re so dear to me. I can’t lose you too.” She admitted, avoiding Peter’s eyes and looking at their hands instead.

Peter didn’t have anything to say to that at first. His heart felt like it was being wrenched out of his chest as he looked at his aunt, who was avoiding his eyes. His gaze then also fell to their hands, clasping each other tightly, and he blinked quickly to try and shove the feeling of crying away from his eyes. “We’ll be alright, May. I promise we will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter, it just made sense to cut it off there before the next bit. x


	64. 64

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an unexpected phone call.

Peter stayed at the hospital for as long as he was allowed, and left when visiting hours were over. He headed back to Tony’s house, now without the flowers and his backpack a little lighter from handing over the blanket. He got back to the house just as it was about to start raining, and shucked off his jacket and hung it up on the coatrack in the hallway. Rather than going into the living room, he headed upstairs to the guest bedroom and flopped down on the bed. He was exhausted.

Tony got back from work at the usual time. Despite being tired after a long day of dealing with Harley, Tony’s mood was not dampened by the rain as he drove home. He knew Peter was waiting for him and was expecting good news from the hospital, knowing that they would have called him if her condition declined. ”Peter?” Tony called out once he stepped inside and was a bit surprised to not find the boy on the sofa. He searched through the rest of the house and finally found Peter in the guest room. ”Peter?”

Peter had been on his phone for a little bit, scrolling through social media and texting Ned and MJ to let them know that May was okay, but soon he had gotten bored of that and plugged his headphones in to listen to music. He dozed softly, not quite asleep but not completely awake, until the sound of the guest room door opening made him flinch to sit up. “Huh? Oh, h-hi.” He said, in a tone like he was embarrassed that Tony had found him half asleep.

”Hi. Did I disturb your nap?” Tony asked with a smile, looking at how adorable Peter was while so sleepy. His hair was a little messy from laying on the pillow and his clothes were a little crumbled up. It was an adorable sight.

Peter shook his head. “No, no, it’s okay. Wasn’t really… asleep.” He said, shuffling on the bed so that he was sat in a lotus position with one earphone hanging out of his ear. He ran a hand through his curls to try and calm them down, but they only seemed to get more messy. “How was work?” He asked, though in the back of his mind he knew he’d get a short answer.

”Tiring, as always, but it was good.” Tony smiled, sitting by Peter’s side and stroking his hair. He changed the subject once more onto more important matters. ”Did you go see your aunt today?” When Peter nodded, the doctor added. ”How was she?”

“She was…” Peter paused for a second. “She was better than she was when we last saw her. Like, she was awake and alert and stuff. She was really happy to see me as well, I was worried that she was about to get up out of the bed when I first went in.” He snorted, tilting his head to rest it on Tony’s shoulder.

Tony chuckled lightly and moved his hand so that he could continue to stroke his hair. ”That’s good to hear. Did you talk to her about school?” The doctor asked.

“No, not yet.” Peter said quietly. “I-I thought I’d tell her about that after she comes home from the hospital, so that it’s one less thing for her to worry about while she’s in there.” He said, staring out of the window of the guest room. “God knows she’s already worrying about me anyway…” He mumbled, a bit of guilt beginning to settle in his chest as he remembered how May admitted she was still concerned about him despite her being the one in hospital.

”God knows or did she tell you that?” Tony asked, digging further as he remembered how May had pushed too many of her own worries and hopes onto Peter when they met at the facility. He knew the woman meant well, as they all do, but professionally he knows that some teenagers cannot handle it.

Peter sighed a little, slumping against the man’s shoulder. “She told me. I-I don’t get it, I mean... I know she cares for me ‘n stuff but... she’s been _stabbed_. There are more important things to worry about, you know? Sh-She kept saying she didn’t wanna lose me, ‘n... I dunno.”

”She still worries for you.” Tony rephrased. ”How did that make you feel?” He asked, hoping they could talk more about this to avoid a potential outburst or another argument when May gets to go back home and presumably Peter goes too.

 “It’s exhausting. Remember what I said about the... the kid gloves?” Peter said, holding both his hands out in front of him and wiggling his fingers like he was pretending to wear invisible gloves. “It’s too much sometimes. I-I know she means well by it, but it’s tiring. Like I’m... I’m being wrapped up in cotton wool or something.”

”Hmm, I remember.” Tony says with a nod, continuing to stroke at Peter’s curls. ”What do you wish your aunt would be like if she didn’t have the ‘kid gloves’?” The doctor asked, glad that they were having this conversation. He doubted Peter talked much about it with Strange when the doctor was focusing most on getting to know Peter and how to make him regress.

 “I dunno.” Peter said truthfully. “She’s always been like that, as long as I can remember. It’s easy to understand why though, what with... all the stuff that’s happened to us, you know? I think we’d have to change a whole lot if I wanted her to be less... coying.”

”Hmm, I see.” Tony hummed. ”And you haven’t talked much about all that’s happened with her, right?”

Peter shook his head, or at least he tried to while his temple rested on Tony’s shoulder. “It gets difficult. We’ve never really been one to like... dwell on the past. We just keep moving forward, you know? But then that means things can get swept under the carpet, and... yeah.”

”And?” Tony prompted gently. ”What happens then?”

The boy shrugged. “Nothing, really. Nothing gets brought up again, and we just go back to doing what we always do. Those conversations die quite quickly.” He said, his hand beginning to fiddle with the fabric of Tony’s shirt as he sat next to him. Peter wasn’t sad, but he was subdued and pensive, and so they sat in silence for a little while.

Tony hummed sympathetically, moving his hand to Peter's upper arm and pulling him closer. They sat together in silence until the doctor broke the silence. "What are you thinking about?" He prompted with a gentle tone as not to startle the boy.

Peter smiled gently at how tight Tony’s grip was around his shoulders. “Nothin’... nothing to do with what we were just talking about, anyways...” he said, sniffing quietly. He tilted his head so that he could look up at the doctor’s face, and slowly reached up to gently pet his beard. Peter didn’t say anything, but a small grin spread across his face as he reached upwards.

Tony was about to ask more, but he fell silent when Peter began to touch his facial hair. It tickled a bit and the doctor couldn’t help but smile. ”You seem to like my beard.” Tony pointed out, looking at Peter by his side and his wide and child-like eyes which were filled with innocent curiosity.

 “‘s nice.” The boy said quietly. “I can’t grow one. I mean, I don’t want to anyway, but... ‘s fun to touch.” He smiled, enjoying the bristling sensation of the man’s goatee against his fingertips. He raised his hand a little higher to press the soft pads of his fingers against the man’s lips, giggling a little as he did so.

Tony smiled even wider when the boy’s prying fingers got to his lips and he kissed the gently. ”Now, what are you doing?” He asked with a chuckle, taking the boy’s wrist and kissing his fingers again.

 “Messin’ with your face.” Peter replied, high pitched giggles escaping him when Tony grabbed hold of his wrist. He managed to move his hand far away enough from the man’s face to splay his fingers out and then press his palm to Tony’s face, like a face-hugging octopus. He then pushed so that Tony began to tip back against the bed and Peter followed, laughing the entire time.

Tony let out a soft ’oof’ when he hit the bed, laughing at Peter’s face. ”Messing, I see.” Tony laughed, grabbing Peter’s wrist again and kissing his palm sweetly.

Once Tony was laid back on the bed, Peter scrambled to sit on his chest, his legs bracketing his torso but leaving Tony’s arms free. When the man went back to kissing his hand, Peter frowned. “How come my hand gets all the kisses?” He said, before moving his hand away and replacing his palm against the man’s lips with his own slightly chapped ones.

Tony hummed in the back of his throat and relaxed into the kiss in an instant. He let his hands roam over Peter’s back like so many times before. ”Is that better?” The doctor asked with a smirk once they pulled back just an inch for air.

Peter shivered as he felt Tony’s hands wandering up his back over his hoodie, but desperately wanted him to slip his hands under the fabric. “Much better.” He grinned, leaning forward again to kiss the smirk off of the doctor’s face. He also began to let his own hands wander, coming up to the man’s chest and splaying his fingers out against his pecs.

”I’m glad.” Tony smirked against Peter’s lips, kissing him again and sucking the boy’s bottom lip between his teeth in a gentle bite. The doctor remembered how much Peter said that he liked that.

Peter whined hopelessly when Tony sucked on his lip, his entire body squirming in response to the small yet intense action. When they broke apart from the kiss once more, Peter ducked his head to begin planting kisses against the underside of Tony’s jaw while his hands continued to explore the doctor’s abs and pecs above his button up shirt.

”Eager little puppy, aren’t you?” Tony teased, letting his hands roam lower and lower till he got to the boy’s ass and cupped each cheek in his hands. ”You’re not so shy now after what we did a few nights ago?” The doctor asked, tilting his head back to give the boy better access to his neck.

The combination of Tony’s hands on his ass and the murmured pet name made Peter keen, shifting his hips minutely as arousal started pooling in his stomach. He almost missed the question, but managed to catch onto it. “Y-Yeah... It... It felt good, and I- I trust you.” He admitted quietly, pressing another kiss to Tony’s jaw and then giving small kitten licks to his Adam’s apple, like Tony had done to him before.

”That’s good. Little boys should trust their Daddies.” Tony smirked, squeezing Peter’s ass cheeks in his hands and pressing the boy closer to himself. Being close isn’t close enough and the doctor moaned quietly at all the wet kisses that almost tickle him.

Peter whimpered when Tony grabbed his ass, and the low rumble of his voice made Peter’s hips buck suddenly, his crotch rutting against the man’s midriff. He tried to control himself, but he was soon panting against Tony’s skin and squeezing his eyes shut. “D-Daddy...” He gasped, like it was the only word he knew.

”What, baby boy? Cat got your tongue? Or maybe Daddy did?” Tony teased, reaching up to catch Peter’s lips with his again in another kiss, sucking the boy’s bottom lip between his teeth again. The doctor adored the way the boy squirmed on top of him as he bit his lip just a bit harder than before. Their little moment was suddenly disturbed by Peter’s phone ringing by his pillow.

Peter was about to say something about how cheesy Tony’s line was, but then he was being pulled into another kiss and the words were stolen from his mouth. He let out another soft whimper when the doctor nibbled on his bottom lip, and was beginning to shift his hips a little more confidently when his phone suddenly went off. He pulled away from Tony, looking mildly confused as he reached for it and pressed the “accept call” button. Nobody usually phoned him, and for a brief moment he wondered if it was the hospital. “H-Hello?”

Tony felt his heart jump into his throat just a bit as he worried that they were calling from the hospital with bad news. He sat up next to Peter just in case it was, but then he recognised the voice on the other end.

”Peter! Hi- uhm- it’s Loki. You remember?”

Tony let out a little sigh when he realised it was just Loki and smiled as he saw Peter do the same.

Peter squirmed to get off of the doctor when he grabbed the phone, and so was now sat on the mattress cradling the phone in his hand. When Loki’s voice came through the receiver, Peter’s initially confused face morphed into one of excitement and also relief that it wasn’t the hospital. “Loki! Holy shit! Y-Yeah, course I remember! Fuck, greaseball, how have you been?” He said excitedly, almost vibrating with joy.

”I’m okay.” Loki chuckled a little, but did not add how terribly he was missing Peter. Almost all the sessions with Banner had been about how much Loki missed him since he had left. ”But, what about you? How’s the real, outside world doing?” The boy joked.

Tony could hear it all and smirking wolfishly, the doctor got an idea and leaned over to kiss at Peter’s neck.

 “Awh, that’s good!” Peter said, glad that Loki was alright. He missed the boy a lot. “The outside world’s shit, dude, you’re not mi-“

He suddenly stumbled on his word when he felt Tony’s lips press against his neck. A hot flush swept over him, and with his other hand he tried to shove at the doctor’s forehead to get him to stop. “Y-You’re not missing much. It wasn’t prepared for me, I’ll tell you that much.” He said, trying his best to concentrate on talking and not whining into the phone by accident.

Tony snorted quietly at Peter’s attempt to shove him away, but did not back down and continued to kiss his neck and top of his collarbones. ”I feel like I am though.” Loki laughed from the other end of the line. ”I’m starting to rot here without you. The only entertainment I have here is watching this new boy wrestle with Rogers and Barnes everyday. It’s pretty hilarious actually.”

Peter bit down on his bottom lip _hard_  to stifle the whimpers that threatened to escape him when he felt Tony’s teeth nip at the skin on his collarbones. “N-New kid? Fighting with Rogers and Barnes? Jeez... I-I-I think I only fought them once, and it w-wasn’t even a fight, I tried to run and collapsed before I could g-get anywhere.” He said, still weakly trying to push the doctor away from him. “I miss you, man, s-sometimes I can hear your voice making s-snide comments whenever stupid shit happens around me.” He laughed, though a little unevenly as half of his brain fought the pleasure that was creeping up on him.

Loki laughed, a warm feeling spreading in his chest now that he knew they both missed one another. ”I mean, you do stupid shit though.” He pointed out. ”Yeah, the new kid is causing all sorts of trouble here. Like, he needs multiple doctors. Stark even wrestled with him the other day.”

At the mention of his name, Tony looked up and met Peter’s eyes. He shrugged one shoulder before kissing the boy on the mouth to tease him even more.

Peter had to move his phone away from his head quickly when Tony kissed him on the mouth so that Loki couldn’t hear it. When they pulled apart, he put the phone back up to his ear. “Christ, don’t get me started on Stark.” He huffed, a small mischievous grin starting to spread on his face at the thought of openly bad-mouthing the doctor and him not able to do anything about it. “I’ve been going to see Doctor Strange each week now, and lemme tell you, he is _so_  much better than Stark. I know you don’t like him, but like he’s actually _so good_.” He said, grinning widely.

Tony knew what Peter was playing at and held back a growl and the temptation to push the boy back on the bed and show him who was in charge.

”No way, man! Strange fucked me up, I told you! I really hope he hasn’t prescribed you some fucked up drugs too.” Loki said, telling his half truth about Strange again.

Peter dared to glance over at Tony and his eyes widened when he saw how dark and predatory the man’s face was getting. Clearly his teasing was working, and Peter looked away again with a smug, cheeky smirk on his face. “No, no, he hasn’t. He’s really nice, dude, really _professional_. You just gotta give him a chance, that’s all. There’s a reason they call him the best in the field, dude.” He said, now completely avoiding Tony’s eyes. “Anyways, hows _Thoooor_? _”_ He drawled. He realised that Tony didn’t know about Loki’s crush on Thor, and made a mental note to beg the man to not say anything to the nurse when he went to work the next day.

Tony scoffed quietly, shoving at Peter to get him to shut up already. However, he raised his brows at Peter’s odd tone when he mentioned the nurse. ”He’s- he’s good. Big and smiley, you know.” Loki explained shortly, trying not to grin too much. ”I went swimming with him again.”

“Big ‘n smiley, yeah, that sounds like him. Opposite of you.” Peter snorted, clearly joking.  “Wait, _again_? No way. What happened? Were you like you were last time, remember when we were in the canteen that morning?” He asked, trying to be as vague as possible while Tony was listening in. To be honest, he was just glad that the doctor had stopped kissing his neck, so that he could focus on the conversation.

Figuring that he has teased Peter enough, and the boy has gotten back at him too, Tony got up from the bed and gestured to the door silently. He left the two boys to catch up, knowing that Loki will not be allowed his phone for long.

”Same as last time, really. But, it was super fun either way.” Loki explained shortly, blushing at as he recalled the event from a week ago.

Peter nodded in response, watching the doctor leave the room before turning his attention back to the phone. “That’s awesome, dude.” He said, flopping over on the bed so that he was lying on his back. “Hey, uh… do you see Stark at all?” He asked. He obviously didn’t need to ask something like that, but if he was going to pretend that he hadn’t seen the man since he left the facility, then he had to make it believable.

”I mean he lurks around here, but I’ve been seeing Banner mostly. Stark’s pretty busy with that new kid. He’s being hella troublesome. I tried to team up with him, but he’s just way too out of it to realise that I could help him.” Loki shrugged, exaggerating his skills just a bit. ”Oh, I think I can hear him screaming again. Can you hear that?”

“Huh…” Peter hummed. When Loki asked if he could hear the new kids screaming, Peter strained his hearing as best he could to try and pick it up over the phone. “I… think I can? It’s really faint though, maybe he’s at the other end of the facility.” He said. “You like troublesome, though, right? You and your mischief, making the nurses lives hell and such.” He grinned. “What’ve you been up to with Banner, then? If you don’t mind me asking, obviously.”

”Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m the god of mischief, but mischief does not involve kicking and screaming like a child having a tantrum.” Loki scoffed. ”He’s just troublesome without the class and style, which I just so happen to master.” Loki laughed. At the mention of Banner, the boy dropped some of his facade. ”I- I’ve been talking more about my dad.” He said shortly, not going into more detail than that.

Peter’s smile became a little more sad, a little more soft, when he heard that Loki had been talking about his father. “Hey, that’s great, Lo.” He said gently, hoping that mentioning it wouldn’t scare the boy off. He could sense that Loki didn’t want to talk about it any more than that, so he changed the topic. “I’ve, uh, been trying to do age regression with Strange, but it isn’t working. Or like, it’s taking more effort to do than with Stark.” He admitted, fiddling with the blanket between his fingers.

”Told you! He’s fucking with you.” Loki laughed, glad that Peter changed the subject and that he won’t have to think more about his father. But, then he noticed Peter’s tone and became more serious. ”You can’t relax with him you mean?”

“Maybe…? I dunno what it is. Maybe it’s cos I’m used to Stark as my caregiver, so it’s  just more difficult to get into that state when he’s not around.” Peter explained. “Like, we played with Legos the other day, and usually that’s good at getting me into it, but… I dunno, nothing really happened.”

”Hmm.” Loki hummed at the other end. ”I can’t believe I’m saying this but, talk to Strange about it. It’s best to be honest about it so he can help you.” Loki explained, having learned from experience that pretending to be regressed wasn’t the same as actually being regressed.

“I can’t believe you’re saying that either, who are you and what have you done with Loki?” Peter snorted, rolling over onto his stomach and fiddling with the hems of the pillow in front of him. “But yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll bring it up on Friday, he said we’ll be trying more of it then.”

Loki laughed a little at Peter’s joke before continuing to listen. ”That’s good, man. He’s there to help, but sometimes you gotta really ask for it.” Loki explained, trying not to sound too sad and vulnerable. ”So yeah, just don’t make the same mistake I did and waste time.”

“Right, right…” Peter fell silent after that, and it remained that way for a couple of seconds. “I miss you, Lo.” He said quietly, cradling the phone to his ear and gazing out of the bedroom window. “I wish we met earlier, you know? We could’a caused more real trouble, like that time we snuck into Stark’s office.” He snorted.

”Yeah, yeah.” Loki said sadly, biting his lip to stop it from trembling. ”I-I miss you too...” He finally admitted, but saying the words aloud made it all too real for the boy and he swallows thickly. ”I-I have to go, Peter. I-I can’t-” Loki stuttered out, not knowing what to say as he began panicking.

Peter blinked a couple of times as Loki’s breathing sounded like it was getting more panicked, and he quickly sat up properly. “Hey, you’re alright. Lo, you’re okay. I’ll speak to you soon, alright?” He said, hoping that even though Loki was beginning to panic, he hadn’t scared the boy off entirely.

”Yeah, yeah, I’ll be okay. I just- I need to go.” Loki said, finding it impossible to explain his panic better than that. He would love to talk to Peter all day, but his emotions are taking over and he does not know what else to do than to end the call hastily. ”I’ll- I’ll talk to you soon.”

"O-Okay, yup. Take care, Lo." Peter nodded, before the call ended and he was left holding the phone to his ear with nobody at the other end. He sighed, taking the phone away from his head and gazing down at it. Even despite his knowledge of Loki's depression, he couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty that he had caused the boy to panic in the way that he did.


	65. 65

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the elephant in the room is addressed.

While Peter was on the phone with his friend, Tony began preparing for dinner. After a while, Tony checked his watch and saw that Loki’s phone time must be over soon. He climbed up the stairs and poked his head through the door, seeing that Peter had his phone in his lap and not up to his ear. ”So, how’s Loki?”

Peter’s head whipped up when he heard Tony’s voice, and blinked owlishly a couple of times. “He’s, uh, he’s okay.” He said, clambering off the bed and heading over to where Tony stood in the doorway. “He had to go pretty quickly, but we talked a lot.” He shrugged, looking up at the doctor. “You, uh... you cooking dinner? Do you want help?” He offered, scuffing his toe against the carpet of the bedroom floor.

”Sure.” Tony smiled at Peter’s offer and so they headed downstairs to the kitchen. The doctor gave the boy the task of peeling potatoes while he found the right spices for the sauce. ”So, what did you two talk about?” Tony asked.

Peter followed Tony into the kitchen and began dutifully peeling potatoes when the equipment was pointed out to him. “I dunno, we talked about a bunch of stuff. He said he’s been talking about his dad with Banner, which I said was good... and, uhh... He spoke about some new kid at the facility who’s apparently causing trouble.” He said, careful to not cut himself with the potato peeler.

Tony knew that Loki meant Harley, but the doctor could not say anything about that. As if he hadn't broken enough rules and guidelines already. ”Sound like you were very supportive to Loki.” Tony pointed out, giving the boy a smile.

Peter shrugged, like it was no big deal. “He didn’t really say much about it. He talked more about swimming with Thor.” He said, biting back the grin on his face at the thought of Loki being flustered around the nurse. He poked his tongue out between his lips as he peeled the potatoes, but the cheeky grin from teasing Loki still lingered on his face.

”Yeah? You remember when we all went to the pool together?” Tony asked, smiling at the memory as he got the pan ready to cook the meat. He glanced over at Peter, smiling at how concentrated the boy looked as he peeled the potatoes.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, but he ‘n Thor went swimming again apparently.” He said, briefly putting the peeler down and shaking his arms out. “And then I told him about Strange and, you know, how _good_  he is.” Peter said airily, avoiding Tony’s gaze as he waited to hear his reaction.

At the mention of Strange, Tony turned to face Peter properly. ”You say that all the time, but you never actually make an argument for it.” The doctor pointed out, giving the boy a sharp look. ”What makes him so 'good' then? Besides those ridiculous cheekbones.” The doctor grumbled mostly to himself, briefly remembering a time when he would kiss those cheekbones every chance he got.

Peter wasn’t looking, but he could _feel_  the doctor’s eyes on him at the mention of Strange. “Oh, you know...” He said vaguely, eventually finishing the potatoes and turning to face the doctor. “He just _is_.” He said, though he knew it was weak and that the doctor would see right through it. “More attractive.” He lied, but at the thunderous look on Tony’s face the boy burst into giggles.

”More attractive?” Tony repeated in disbelief, struggling to keep a straight when Peter was giggling so adorably. ”So, you make out with him too or what?” Tony asked, placing his hands on the counter on each side of the boy’s hips, trapping him against the counter.

Peter gulped, squirming against the counter when he was caged in by the doctor’s arms. He had two options here, either immediately backtrack on what he had said or go full brat-mode. He looked up at the doctor, and his eyes glinted with mischief. “More.” He said simply, the implications hanging heavy in the air. It was a lie, a complete and utter lie, but it was so much fun to act like this.

Tony grinned back at Peter wolfishly, chuckling calmly. ”Is that so? Was he as good as I was to you a few nights ago, boy? Because last time I checked, you were humping _my_ leg, not his.” The doctor argued, keeping his eyes fixed on the boy and keeping him trapped against the counter still. Peter wasn’t the only one who was enjoying their little game.

Peter’s eyes widened comically as Tony spoke to him in a low, calm drawl. Looking at him, he could see an evil shine in the doctor’s eyes, and it was enough to make Peter’s knees buckle. He grabbed hold of the counter behind him and turned his head to look away, a flush creeping up his neck. “P-Pervert...!” He whimpered, his bratty attitude folding like a house of cards and leaving nothing but flustered butterflies in his stomach.

”Then again, you _are_ a horny and needy little boy...” Tony drawled with that same wolfish smirk. ”Tell me, Peter, did you dream about me or Strange before you woke up all hard and leaking?” The doctor asked, pushing the game a little further while studying how the boy squirmed under his gaze.

Peter’s mouth fell open and his breaths turned into ragged panting as his skin grew hotter and hotter every second that Tony had him pressed up against the counter. “Y-You know the answer to that, St-Stark.” He said weakly, his entire body squirming and wriggling beneath the doctor. He gulped down saliva that was beginning to pool in his mouth, and his eyes quickly glanced over to see Tony gazing at him with the same predatory smirk on his face.

”I don’t think I do, Peter. Come on, what do you call me?” Tony prompted, using his nose to nudge Peter’s chin up and kiss him under his jaw and down his neck. He did not move his hands and contiuned to keep Peter caged in.

Peter was powerless to do anything other than tilt his head upwards when Tony nudged at it, and shivered when kisses were planted against the fleshy part under his jaw. “P-Pervert?” He suggested cheekily, but when Tony bit down on his neck his bratty attitude finally dissolved to nothing and he keened. “D-Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” He squealed hurriedly, gripping the countertop even tighter than before. “‘s you, Daddy, only you, ‘m sorry!” He sobbed, his trousers becoming extremely tight around the groin and his face flushed.

”There’s a good boy.” Tony finally said, pleased that Peter had submitted to him. He always got the boy to do so eventually, but the doctor had to admit that Peter did put up a good fight now and then. ”Daddy’s good boy.” Tony emphasised, kissing Peter’s neck one last time before kissing his lips.

Peter nearly melted against the marble countertop when Tony called him his good boy, and gladly parted his lips for another kiss. Once they separated and Tony dropped his arms so that Peter was no longer caged in, the boy headed to the sink to get himself a glass of water, trying to avoid the arousal that was very clearly affecting him.

Tony watched Peter run off with a little smirk before turning his attention back to the cooking. ”You okay?” The doctor asked after a moment, a little chuckle in his voice as he began cooking the meat.

Peter finished drinking his water and placed the glass down on the table a little harder than expected, flinching with a little squeak. “I- Uh, yeah, f-fine.” He nodded, the throbbing in his groin becoming a bit of an issue to his concentration. “I’m, uh, j-just gonna go to the bathroom, if that’s... if that’s cool?” He said, glancing over at Tony who was seemingly unaffected by what had just occurred between them.

”Sure thing.” Tony said easily with a smile, but did watch Peter a bit more closely when he walked to the bathroom. But, the doctor did not think much of it and brought his attention back to the food.

Peter walked out of the kitchen, but in his mind it was more like a sprint. He took the stairs two at a time and headed into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind him. He pressed his back to the door and fished his hand into his trousers, barely getting them down past his thighs before he took his dick into his hand and began to stroke himself off. He was so unbelievably aroused that the touch was like sweet relief, and he tipped his head back against the door as he worked himself up. It didn’t take long before he was cumming, spilling over his hand with a broken cry. He slumped against the door, panting harshly, and it took him a minute to recover and stand up properly. He grabbed some toilet roll and cleaned himself up, and then washed his hands as well. He looked at himself in the bathroom, hoping that he didn’t look too debauched, before heading back downstairs to the kitchen.

Tony was just about to head upstairs to check that Peter was okay as the boy seemed to be taking a while. He wondered if he had gone too far, again, but was quickly relieved to see Peter returning. ”Hey, everything all right? Did I go too far?” Tony asked, scanning Peter with his eyes, finding nothing out of the ordinary besides a blush on his cheeks.

 “Hmm?” Peter raises his eyebrows at Tony’s question when he came in. “No, no, it- I- it was good.” He mumbled, biting down on his bottom lip and avoiding the man’s gaze in a way that suggested it was much more than just ‘good’. He didn’t want to know whether Tony knew that he was jacking off upstairs, and instead busied himself by pouring another glass of water and downing it in the hopes of clearing the blush on his face.

”You seem quite flustered, Peter.” Tony pointed out, not convinced by the boy’s explanations. ”Come on, be honest with me.” The doctor prompted, using his free hand to gesture for Peter to come closer.

Peter shook his head fervently, squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment as his curls bounced in his face. He didn’t move from where he stood either, across the kitchen from the doctor with his back to the sink. “It- It felt really good!” He blurted out. His voice was terribly high pitched, and Peter winced at himself in embarrassment for it. “I- You- The... The teasing, the- the humiliation. I- I liked it a lot.” He admitted.

Tony frowned just a bit when Peter didn’t come to him, but was slightly comforted that he said what he liked about their earlier game. ”That’s good. But, was there anything you didn’t like?” The doctor asked. He would hate himself if he had actually pushed the boy too far.

 “N-No, it’s... I liked all of it, a _l_ _ot_.” He said quietly, his hands coming down to fiddle with the hem of his hoodie. “I-I’m just not used to this stuff, you know? Like, ‘m not used to... to getting that kind of attention. ‘s weird at first.” He admitted. He then chose to hop up onto the counter, sitting on it so that his legs dangled over one side and he was looking at the doctor across the room.

”You haven’t had any boyfriends or girlfriends?” Tony asked, trying not to show how baffling it seemed to him considering how gorgeous Peter was. But, in a way he could understand it with the boy’s attachment issues.

Peter shook his head again. “I-I’ve liked people before, like there was a boy in seventh grade who... who I thought was cute, ‘n... a teacher, oh God, my freshman year science teacher, I liked her a lot. I’ve never, uhm, never dated anyone though.” He said, chewing on his bottom lip again. It was a little pathetic, in his mind, that he had gotten this far without ever having a romantic relationship with anyone.

”Well, you are still young, so there is no rush.” Tony assured with a smile, not wanting to address the elephant in the room that is the question about what their relationship is. The doctor tried to busy himself with the food, regretting that he asked Peter about boyfriends and girlfriends at all.

Peter blinked at that, his brow furrowing as he watched the doctor cook. “D-Does that mean we aren’t... are we not... you know. Are we not already there yet?” The boy asked a little sadly. He should’ve known this from the beginning, known it from the way that Tony could never seem to address him as anything other than a patient. Their conversations were always so one sided, and Peter wondered if Tony thought this was just him caring for a patient in his own home. He knew he shouldn’t have asked that question, but maybe it was better that he did.

There was no escaping the elephant in the room now and Tony sighed a little before turning to face the boy sat on the counter. ”Peter, I’m just here to take care of you till your aunt is discharged. You should focus on that and not whatever- we are doing.” Tony said, knowing it was all such bullshit. He got the same awful feeling in his gut when he had lied to Peter about the doctor-patient confidentiality at the facility weeks ago.

Peter huffed, leaning back on the counter and extending his leg out so that he could hook a stool with his ankle and drag it to where he was sat. He then placed his feet on the stool so that his knees were brought up to his chest, and he watched the doctor carefully with his arms crossed on his kneecaps. “I thought you’d say that. God forbid I ever think that you have the ability to leave your psychiatrist manual at the door.” He sighed, but didn’t take his eyes off the man’s face. “This is just another part of your job, to you, isn’t it?”

Peter was right about it all. Tony had been treating the boy as a patient, because what else was he supposed to do? The doctor didn’t dare think about it and busied himself with setting the table now that the food was ready. He didn’t answer Peter’s claims and did not try to defend himself at all. What was he supposed to say anyway? ”Food’s ready.” Tony said instead now that it all was ready and gave Peter just a quick and neutral look.

When Tony didn’t reply, Peter felt a hot flash of anger run through him. He clenched his fists tightly but then unclenched them, an involuntary response that took him by surprise for a split second. “Thought so.” He watched the man busy himself, while he himself didn’t move from the countertop. “I appreciate you letting me stay here, I really do, but I thought that it meant that we were equals. Instead, you’ve just been treating me like I’m another patient number on a list that you have when you make your rounds. You’ve just got this… this _mask_  on where everything’s professional and everything’s about work, and- and I feel like I don’t know you.” Peter said, a lump beginning to form in his throat. 

Tony turned his back to Peter when he heard that the boy wasn’t done talking yet. It was all correct, all of it and the doctor could barely take it. He shook his head softly, but could not muster the strength to actually defend himself because he had nothing to defend himself with.

“At least Strange can take his mask off every once in a while.” Peter finally said bitterly, leaning forward to grab the plate of food that Tony had just served. Without saying thank you, or asking if it was okay, he left the kitchen, taking his food and cutlery up to the guest bedroom to eat by himself.

Without turning to look at Peter, Tony just listened to the boy head upstairs and slammed his fist against the counter in anger. Tony had lost his appetite completely, but was too restless and worked up to stay still, so instead he began cleaning the kitchen, although it was squeaky clean already.

As Peter was heading upstairs, he thought he could hear the sound of something dull making impact with something else, but simply rolled his eyes and continued to walk up the stairs. He went into the guest bedroom, closing the door and locking it from the inside for good measure. Rather than sit on the bed and risk getting food on the sheets, he sat with his back to the door and fished in his pocket to get his headphones. He pressed shuffle on his phone and the first song to come up was ‘Jenny’ by the Studio Killers. It was fine until he reached the chorus: _‘I wanna ruin our friendship… we should be lovers instead…”_ at which point Peter made a frustrated grunting noise and tossed his phone onto the bed and ate the rest of his food in silence.

Only when the kitchen was nearly sterile did Tony stop the cleaning. He still didn’t have an appetite and decided to head into the shower and go to bed early. He figured that Peter was giving him the typical teenager-sulking-silent-treatment and sticking his nose high, the doctor walked upstairs, decided that two could play that game. However, he didn’t quite know what he was angry about anymore. Was he even really angry with Peter? Or himself?

Peter spent the rest of the evening sat on the bed, fiddling with his phone. At one point, he heard footsteps up the stairs and froze, his heart in his throat. Was Stark about to come to apologise? However, when he heard the swing of the bathroom door, and the sound of the shower turning on, he sighed.

Clearly not, then.

He took the time to hop off the bed and grab his plate from where he had left it on the dresser and brought it downstairs to the kitchen. He faltered when he stepped into the kitchen, seeing the man’s plate with the food completely untouched on it. Even despite his anger, a quick flash of guilt ran through him at the thought of Stark not eating anything since their argument. Glancing back towards the door, he decided to grab some saran wrap and cover the plate with it, before putting the plate in the fridge. He then put his own plate in the dishwasher and headed upstairs, where he then went to sleep for the night.

Half way through his shower, Tony just gave up on debating the morality of what he was doing with Peter. He came to that he would just feed and make sure Peter took his meds for the rest of May’s hospital stay. Just a few more days, he could managed that. He would _have_  to.


	66. 66

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> conflict resolution

The next morning, Peter rose out of bed even later than usual. He had had an awful nights sleep, tossing and turning as the thoughts of his one-sided argument with Stark rattled around his head. By the time he had woken up, it was 11am. He decided that he didn’t want to spend the day cooped up in the man’s house like he was some sort of Rapunzel-figure, and so he headed out with the spare set of keys and his wallet. The first thing he did was make a stop at the nearest McDonalds, buying a large chicken nugget meal and inhaling it almost immediately. He felt a sick sense of pride while doing it, like it was proof that he was his own person and didn’t need _Doctor Stark_  to tell him what to do.

He got a text from Ned saying that school had finished early due to a fire alarm being pulled, and so he headed over to meet his two best friends to spend the rest of the day with them. Early afternoon turned to late afternoon turned to evening, and Peter didn’t even care that at this point, Stark would be arriving home from work. He just focussed on having fun with his two friends at Ned’s house.

Tony went about his usual morning routine once he woke up the next morning, although he did so in a foul mood. He was still angry at something, but not really Peter. However, he tried to push all those thoughts away for now and just focus on work. Harley and all the other patients under his case deserved all of Tony’s attention. The last thing they would need in their chaos is a daydreaming doctor. And so, Tony went about his day, happily distracted and dreaded going home once his shift was over. He very much expected to find Peter on the sofa, watching some stupid show on his Netflix, but the doctor was very surprised to find the house empty. Surprise turned to panic when Tony realised he had no way of contacting Peter.

Eventually Ned kicked Peter and MJ out of his house, saying something about having to clean up before his grandma visited the next day. The two of them decided to walk around the suburbs of Queens for a little while until MJ was also called back home, leaving Peter on his own. He sighed, glancing down at his phone to see that it was now 7:45pm. With nothing else to do, he headed back to Stark’s house with his headphones in and his music turned up. He got to the doctor’s house at around 8, and let himself in with the spare key. He didn’t particularly care that the door seemed to slam shut behind him due to a sudden gust of wind, but he did care that he could see the shadow of a figure stood in the kitchen, hunched over the kitchen island. He carefully took one headphone out and headed to the kitchen, his brow furrowed.

By the time he heard the front door open and close, signaling that Peter had returned, Tony had paced the house a hundred times thinking about what to do with the boy. One option was to call the police, but then he would have to explain their odd relationship and that was out of the question. Another option was to head out and look for the boy, but then he wouldn’t be home in case Peter returned. The doctor pondered on a dozen other options, but none of it mattered anymore now that Peter was back. ”Where have you been?” Tony asked lowly, barely looking up at Peter when he entered the kitchen.

Peter reached into his pocket, fumbling to turn his music off so that he could hear the man properly. His eyebrows knitted when Stark asked him that, and he let out an annoyed huff. “Out. I went to Ned’s house.” He said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He also squared his shoulders, preparing himself for the possible shitstorm he had coming in his direction. He watched the man carefully, soon becoming annoyed that Stark wouldn’t even look in his direction when speaking to him.

Tony did not like Peter’s carefree tone at all, but he could hardly be angry with the boy, knowing he was safe. ”And how was I supposed to know that? You could have left a note or something. Left your number so I could call you.” Tony said, looking Peter up and down to check that he was okay.

“What do you care? You were at work the whole day anyway.” Peter grumbled, moving across the room to take his bag off and put it by the island, before heading to the fridge to peer inside it. “Besides, I thought _doctors_  weren’t supposed to have their patients numbers? Didn’t they teach you that in medical school?” He said scathingly, grabbing the carton of fruit juice from inside the fridge door and popping the cap off of it. He was tempted to just drink straight from the carton, but decided to pour himself a glass instead. He didn’t want to get sick.

Tony had managed to put his anger away, but now it came back in the form of frustration when Peter put on such an attitude. However, that frustration quickly turned to exhaustion since their argument had lasted over a day now. ”Peter- will you just- stop?” He nearly begged, slamming a weak fist against the kitchen island before straightening up and looking at Peter.

Even though it was weak, Peter still flinched hard at the sound and movement of Stark’s fist hitting the marble counter. He tried to recover his “couldn’t-care-less” attitude from before, but he was now definitely more emotional than he had been, and it showed in the way that his hands shook and his bottom lip trembled as he stared straight back at the doctor. “N-No.” He shook his head. “Not... Not until you tell me w-why you insist on keeping up some kind of... barrier between us, like we aren’t... like we aren’t equals. I- It-“ The boy’s voice faltered and he fell silent, his gaze being pulled to the floor and his shoulders fidgeting as he tried to square them again, to little effect.

”I- Because I can’t sleep at night unless I tell myself that.” Tony admitted with a shrug, shaking his head softly as he looked at Peter. ”If we aren’t doctor and patient, then what do you think that makes us?” Tony asked, gesturing to the space between them. ”I- there’s nothing else I want more in this world but _you_ , but it- it tears me apart...”

Peter screwed his face up as Stark spoke, fighting with tooth and nail against the urge to cry. When Stark asked what he thought they were, he couldn’t answer. They weren’t in a relationship, Peter wasn’t even sure that they were friends. To be friends would mean that the two of them knew things about each other and got along, and while they definitely got along, Peter realised that he didn’t know a single thing about the man stood at the other end of the kitchen. He didn’t respond to anything the man said, his body freezing up as hot tears began sliding down his cheeks which only forced the boy to duck his head further so that Stark couldn’t see them.

”I wish we could be together, Peter.” Tony said quietly, seeing that Peter was getting very upset now, but he knew they could avoid this conversation any longer. They would have to talk about it eventually. ”I keep thinking about you when I go to work, like- the other day I literally called another patient ’Peter’ because I was so distracted by you and, and- when you weren’t here... I got so _scared_... Terrified.” Tony explained, getting teary eyed himself.

Peter’s hands moved back to grip the counter he was leaning against, his head still bowed as he tried to hide his frustrated tears. He raised one arm to rub at his face roughly to try and get rid of them, but it was pointless as more fell in the place of the ones he wiped away. “I didn’t think you would.” He said quietly, not looking up from the floor. “I- You- I th-thought it was so _wrong_  to like you, a-at the facility it made me go insane because I thought i-it was bad. Lo...” Peter then huffed a sad laugh. “Lo used t-to love taking the p-piss outta me for it, said that doctors would never...” He was rambling at this point, he knew that, but he couldn’t stop. “I thought you’d be different after I left. But he was right.”

”But, I can be different!” Tony said, coming up to Peter and cupping his cheeks so that their eyes met. ”I can’t- I can’t stop thinking about you... Just when I think I’ve convinced myself to do the right thing, to just let you go- I- can’t get you out of my head... I want to protect you.” Tony said and after a little pause, he added. ”I want to love you.”

Peter didn’t want to look at Tony, but found that lifting his head to make eye contact was the easiest thing in the world at that moment. His breath hitched when he saw tears in the corners of his doctor’s eyes, and his hand came up to rest on the outside of Tony’s. “Promise?” He whispered, not taking his eyes off of the man’s face.

”I promise you that.” Tony said, sealing the deal with a kiss to Peter’s forehead. He wanted to kiss the boy’s lips, but he wasn’t sure if the boy would want that right now. ”From today on, we will be equals. I won’t treat you as a patient, but as a lover.” Tony added with a gentle smile, waiting for Peter’s reaction.

Peter was grateful for the kiss, squirming a little when Tony leaned in and Peter was subsequently pressed against the counter for a second. He blushed profusely, mouthing the word “lover” to himself with his gaze dropped and a shy grin creeping up on his face. Finally, he looked up at the doctor with wide eyes and tiptoed to press a soft kiss to the man’s cheek.

Tony smiled softly at the kiss on his cheek. He figured Peter liked the idea of them being lovers, boyfriends, partners or whatever. At least not just doctor and patient. ”Is that okay?” Tony asked, just to be sure that they were on the same page. The last thing they would need is more miscommunication.

 “Yes.” The boy nodded resolutely, his hands coming down from where they were resting on Tony’s to fiddle at his sides. “I’m, uhm... sorry. For... for being...” he trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase it. “Sorry for not telling you where I went today. For scaring you.” He settled on that as a place to start, still nervous even though they had settled the argument.

”I understand why you left, but you did give me a scare, kid.” Tony chuckled, kissing Peter’s forehead again to show that no harm was done. ”I’m just glad you’re here, that you’re all right.” He added softly, stroking the boy’s cheeks with his thumbs.


	67. 67

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and tony get domestic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at imaginary watch* shit its the 7th of july i need to update this. dw tho, regular updates as usual from now, every other day babey x

Peter made an apologetic face, turning his head to lean further into the man’s touch. He then opened his mouth and nibbled on the tip of Tony’s thumb playfully, unable to suppress the goofy grin that flashed across his face when he did so. “Have you eaten yet?” He asked, pressing another kiss to the palm of Tony’s hand.

Tony chuckled again when Peter took his thumb into his mouth, taking it as a sign that the boy was in a better mood. ”No, I haven’t.” Tony said with a shake of his head. ”I was too worried about you.” He added, leaning in to kiss the boy’s forehead again.

Peter felt another flash of guilt run through him when Tony admitted he hadn’t eaten yet. “I, uhm... I put your food from yesterday in the fridge, cos I saw you didn’t touch it. I’ll heat it up for you if you want?” He offered, glancing over at the fridge and then at the microwave. “I had food at Ned’s house, so I’m not hungry.” He added as an afterthought, knowing that Tony would probably want to ask.

”Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Peter.” Tony smiled, kissing the boy one last time on the forehead before pulling back to let him pass. He was pleased to hear that Peter had eaten, but he wanted to ask about whether he had taken his meds today. However, Tony figured that wouldn’t be wise to ask now that he had promised they were equals. He would just have to trust that Peter took them and will take them as Strange tells him to.

Peter grinned, heading to the fridge to take the plate of food out. He pulled the saran wrap off of the food and then placed the plate in the oven. “Lemme... Hm... Five minutes...?” He muttered to himself, pressing the microwave buttons to turn it on and then peering in through the little window to see if it had worked. When the microwave started whirring away he smiled, before heading over to the kitchen island and hopping up on the stool. “How was your day, aside from uh... just now?”

”Tiring, as always.” Tony chuckled, sitting by Peter on the kitchen island. When he saw the frown on the boy’s face, the doctor realised his mistake. ”I mean- I can’t say much about work, you know that. Confidentiality and all.” Tony said apologetically. ”But, I can tell you about what I ate for lunch.” He joked a little.

Peter pouted when Tony was as vague as he always was about work, but he knew that confidentiality was important - hell, the doctor told him that himself. “If you want.” The boy giggled obligingly, swinging his legs back and forth from the stool. 

”A pasta salad with chicken.” Tony said with a chuckle. ”It was pretty good.” He added while looking at Peter, glad to see that he seemed more at ease now after they had solved their argument.

“I, uh, I saw Ned ‘n MJ today.” Peter said, keeping an eye on the microwave.

”And how are Ned and MJ?”

Peter grinned. “They were good. They’re just telling me about stuff that’s going on in school, like... like our Math teacher is getting a divorce so he’s just having a bit of a breakdown. I’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a prick.” He said, one eye still on the microwave. “Also Flash still hasn’t taken my spot on the decathlon team yet, thank fuck.”

”Ouch!” Tony winced in sympathy for the mentioned teacher. ”Are you going to join the team again once you get back?” He asked, hoping the boy would do that to keep himself occupied and social.

 “Hopefully! If they let me back on the team, that is.” Peter nodded. “I haven’t been on it since Liz was captain...” he said, trailing off as he remembered the girl fondly. God, that seemed like ages ago. She was so pretty... He came to when he saw that Tony was looking at him, and smiled nervously. “Anyways, cos I haven’t been to practice in ages, I’ll have to catch up with everyone else, you know?” He said, but was soon interrupted by the ‘ding’ of the microwave going off.

”Hmm, doesn’t sound impossible though. To get back on the team I mean.” Tony said with a smile. ”You should have a good shot at it considering how smart you are.” He added with a soft smile.

Peter had gotten up to get the food out of the microwave at that point, and when Tony complimented him he immediately turned a bright shade of pink. “I bet you’re just sayin’ that cos I’m holding your food.” He said, heading back over with the plate and setting it in front of his... boyfriend? Lover? The thought of calling Tony that made him giddy. “‘m not _that_  smart...” he mumbled as an afterthought, like he was physically unable to accept a compliment.

”No, I’m not just saying that. I mean it.” Tony said, looking at Peter a little sharply to show that he was being serious. ”And thanks.” Tony smiled, leaning over on his stool to reach for a fork to eat his food.

The corner of Peter’s mouth quirked upwards, but he didn’t say anything else about it as he watched the man dig into his food. He gazed around the kitchen, his chin resting in his hand and his elbow planted on the marble counter as he then turned his attention back to Tony. It was hard to not simply stare at the man and admire every last feature of his face, but Loki’s voice jeering “lovesick puppy” made him flinch and look away.

Tony could feel Peter’s eyes on him and smirked just a bit. He was just about to ask what the boy was staring at for or what he was thinking about, but then Peter flinched. ”What? Something up?” Tony asked quickly, studying Peter with his eyes for any signs of obvious upset.

 “No, no, ‘m fine. ‘s just something Loki used to say to me.” Peter said, pulling a thinking face as he recalled how the other boy would tease him mercilessly. When he noticed that Tony was still looking at him, waiting for an explanation, he sighed gently. “So, uh... when I first met Loki, he used to make fun of me, call me a puppy all the time, cos of my eyes? You know, they’re quite big ‘n... I think they show a lot of emotion, so he always said I had puppy dog eyes.” This next bit was a little more embarrassing, and he squirmed in his seat before speaking again. “When we became friends, I, uh... I mentioned that I liked you but I was frustrated that you apparently couldn’t or didn’t like me back, and he started calling me... calling me a ‘lovesick puppy’.” He said, rolling his eyes. “Said that was how I looked at you all the time.”

Tony smiled during Peter’s whole explanation and felt his heart swell just a bit when he studied the boy’s eyes. They were indeed big, brown and very expressive. It was far too dark for the doctor to see the yellow spots in his eyes, but he knew they were there. ”I think Loki is right. Very much so.” Tony said softly, putting his fork down as he gazed at Peter in front of him. Was this what it felt like to be in love?

Peter squeaked in indignation, scrunching his face up. “I-I’m not a puppy! And I’m not lovesick either!” He huffed, glancing off to the side and then back at the doctor. “He was always sayin’ it... That was his favourite thing to annoy me about.” He snorted, resting his chin back onto his hand. “He was always sayin’ I was a teacher’s pet too. Or... doctor’s pet, I guess? ‘Eager to please puppy’.” He put the last bit in air quotes, still pouring adorably.

Tony just smiled even wider at how Peter became flustered while defending himself, but actually he just proved Loki even more right because he looked so adorable. ”You are a lovesick puppy and a doctor’s pet who’s eager to please.” Tony confirmed with a little shrug, like he was stating obvious facts.

Peter gasped theatrically, before frowning even more than before. “I’m not!” He squealed, and before he was even thinking about what he was doing, he leaned forward and grabbed a small amount of potato off the man’s plate, before flicking it at him. It hit Tony square in the face on his cheek, and Peter froze with his mouth open in a silent scream of laughter. He had no idea how Tony would react, and for a second he hoped he wouldn’t actually get mad.

”No way, you’re not-” Tony was about to finish his sentence, but he was a micro second too late and the food hit his face with a quiet ‘splat’. For a second, Tony just gaped dumbly before meeting Peter’s eyes. ”You little brat!” Tony half growled, half laughed, looking down at himself and the mess Peter had made.

Peter’s silent laughter suddenly turned vocal, and he squealed with mirth as he looked at the food which still clung to Tony’s face. “Your _face!_  I should’ve taken a picture!” He giggled, missing the dark glint in Tony’s eye entirely. His entire face scrunched up as he laughed, and his shoulders shook as he gripped the counter and tried to steady his breathing again.

While Peter was busy laughing, Tony grabbed his fork and loaded it with a bit of potato. Just like Peter had done to him, he flicked the food onto the boy’s face, hitting his cheek and the corner of his mouth. ”What about _your_  face?” Tony asked before bursting into laughter at how surprised Peter looked.

Peter turned to say something else, but it turned out to be at the exact wrong moment as potato hit the side of his face. He was stunned into silence, his eyes wide, but when he heard Tony beginning to laugh he grinned wickedly and leaned forward to grab the food off of his plate and decided to push it directly against the doctor’s face rather than throw it. He was squealing with delight as Tony tried to grab his wrists to push him away.

This was not just flicking food at one another, but a food fight and Tony was all in on it. Grabbing some of the food into his hand, the doctor did the exact same and shoved it into Peter’s face, laughing like a madman as he did it.

Peter yelled out with laughter when Tony began to attack him back, trying (and failing) to shield his face from the food that was being pushed against his cheeks. “Hey- Oh, Pervert, you got some in my hair!” He squealed, still laughing as he tried to shake it out of his hair. “You dick!” He laughed, trying with renewed vigour to mess the man’s face up.

”You started it!” Tony argued back with a high pitched laugh as the fight escalated. ”I guess you aren’t 100 percent a doctor’s pet, but you are still hungry for attention.” Tony teased, grabbing both of Peter’s wrists and pushing them back so that he couldn’t mess up his face even further.

Peter laughed at the joke, but then squeaked when Tony’s large hands wrapped around his wrists. He looked at the doctor with wide eyes, gulping. “Tell that to Loki, he was the one who t-told me to be a brat in the first place!” He admitted, still giggling at the amount of food on Tony’s face. “H-He dared me to do it!”

”Dared you to do what?” Tony asked with a chuckle, pausing to see just how messy Peter’s face and hands were. After a moment, the doctor decided that the fight was over and let go of the boy’s hands to fetch paper towels so that they could clean themselves.

Peter began scraping the food off of his face with his hands when Tony let go of him, swivelling on the stool to watch the man walk. “He- He dared me to be a brat so that I w-would get spanked.” He said quietly, his face heating up. “He was always makin’ fun of me for being all ‘Yes, Daddy!’ with you, so he said I should act out ‘n… get spanked for it.” He explained, mimicking a pornstar’s voice at the small exclamation.

Tony gave Peter a look at that, shaking his head a little in disbelief at Loki’s wit and skills in persuading others. ”So, you didn’t actually need it as a therapeutic thing. You just wanted to prove Loki wrong.” Tony said, just a little shocked at having been tricked by the boy. The memory of having Peter bent over his knee made him just a bit excited and his stomach fluttered.

 “Uhm...” Peter blushed even harder at that, avoiding the doctor’s piercing gaze. “...Maybe.” He said finally. “I-I mean, it f-felt cathartic by the end, but... just wanted you to...” he trailed off, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth and squirming in his seat as the memory of being so harshly spanked made the boy grow hot under the collar. “It was fun to wind you up.” He shrugged.

”And now you’re trying to do it again, are you?” Tony argued, gesturing to their messy faces, their clothes and the kitchen island. ”That’s why you flicked the potatoes at me.” Tony smirked. ”You’re trying to get me to bend you over my knee and spank your little ass red.”

Shit. “Wh- No! I- No, th-that’s... no, you-“ Peter spluttered, very poorly masking the fact that he had been caught out. The man’s low voice and descriptive words made Peter squirm on his seat, and he didn’t want to even look at Tony’s smirking face in case he melted right where he sat. “Nuh uh, Pervert...” he said weakly, but both of them knew that Peter was lying.

” _Nuh uh_...” Tony repeated in a high pitched voice, getting the last bit of food off his face. He grabbed some more paper towels and wet one corner under the sink before approaching Peter. ”Are you worked up, Peter?” The doctor asked lowly, beginning to clean the boy’s face.

Peter froze, which allowed Tony to start cleaning his face. He jutted his chin out and tilted his head up in defiance, his eyes looking anywhere but the doctor’s face. “No.” He lied, aware that Tony could see right through him. It wasn’t as fun if he immediately obeyed, though, was it?

“D-Definitely not.” Yes he was.

All he could think about was Tony grabbing him by the arm, hauling him over his knee and spanking him until he was sobbing. The mental image was like a brand in his retina, and Peter couldn’t prevent the tiniest of whimpers from escaping him just thinking about it.

Tony saw right through Peter’s lies and smirked as he cleaned the boy’s face. He scoffed quietly once he was done, seeing that Peter was trying to keep up a brave face. ”Come on, tell Daddy the truth.” Tony prompted, knowing the title would get Peter’s attention in an instant.

If Peter wasn’t worked up before, he was now. Tony calling himself ‘Daddy’ was like a trump card, and Peter couldn’t resist the full body shiver that ran through him at that moment. He couldn’t pretend any longer, and his eyes fell onto Tony’s smug face. “Y-Yes... Yes, Daddy...” he whimpered, squirming and fidgeting as he tried to distract himself from the heat in his gut. “Want you to...” His mouth went dry and his hands fumbled in his lap hopelessly as he trailed off.

”Yeah?” Tony smirked in triumph as he went to throw away the paper towels. He dried his hands on the kitchen towel, giving the boy a short moment to himself before returning to his side. ”You want me to do what?” He asked, forcing the boy into a metaphorical corner and enjoying it.

Peter frowned. “You know w-what I want, P-Pervert.” He said, trying desperately to gain a footing in their little rivalry but ultimately failing. Even the nickname had lost its bite, and so Peter knew he was done for. His gaze dropped to the floor as heat crept up his neck and flooded his cheeks.

”You have to ask for it, Peter, you know the rules we agreed on.” Tony explained, lifting a hand to place at the back of Peter’s neck, rubbing and squeezing in a possessive manner. ”Come on, tell Daddy what you need.” The doctor prompted.

Peter shivered when he felt Tony’s large hand cup the back of his neck. Humiliation coursed through his veins, and he took a shuddered breath before he spoke. “W-Want Daddy to... to spank me.” He said finally, not looking Tony in the eye out of sheer embarrassment. He tried to ignore how his trousers were getting tighter around the crotch with each second that passed.

”Ask me, Peter.” Tony whispered in Peter’s ear. ”Ask me nicely.” He added, still rubbing and squeezing at the boy’s neck to keep him in place. He let Peter get away with the eye contact, but he wanted the boy to ask him explicitly, say the words aloud again.

Peter gasped for air, his lips parted and his mouth dry as he fought the feeling of arousal in his gut. He could feel Tony’s lips by the shell of his ear, and he shivered again when the doctor muttered in his ear. “P-Please spank me.” He whimpered, his head tilting up to expose the pale column of his throat like he was trying to appear defiant. “Please, D-Daddy.”

”There’s a good boy.” Tony praised, taking Peter’s chin and tilting his head to kiss his neck, then his cheek and then his lips. ”Daddy will sort you out, don’t you worry.” Tony smiled, taking Peter’s hand and leading him over to the sofa in the living room. He sat down his legs spread, patting his knee as he looked at Peter.

Peter drew his bottom lip in between his teeth as Tony kissed up his neck, and let go when the man kissed him properly. He was so dazed that he simply let the doctor lead him by the hand to the living room, and it was like second nature the way that he immediately leaned forward to bend himself over Tony’s knee. His breath hitched when Tony’s hands touched him, manhandling him into the proper position, and he had to remember how to breathe.

”What’s your safeword?” Tony asked as he made sure Peter was in a good position across his thighs. He placed one of his hands at the back of the boy’s neck again, keeping him in place as well as grounded. The doctor didn’t realise how much he had missed this until now.

 “Underoos.” Peter said quietly, squeaking when Tony’s hand found the back of his neck, which forced him to look straight at the floor. He forgot how humiliating the position was, his ass pushed out for Tony to touch as he wanted while his head dropped off the side of Tony’s lap. He already felt hot and bothered, and Tony hadn’t even hit him yet.

”Good boy. Count them out for me.” Tony reminded before raising his hand. He hit the boy quickly on each ass cheek before pausing and letting the boy process the pain. The doctor smirked at how Peter’s whole body jolted forwards, but thanks to the hand on his neck, Tony managed to hold him still.

Peter bit down on his lip, but it did little to stifle his cry when Tony hit him on the ass twice. “One. Two.” He counted, trying to wriggle back into place after he had been moved slightly by the strength of Tony’s hits. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the next hit.

Giving Peter a moment to recover, Tony raised his hand again for the third hit. After the boy had counted and made a noise in response to the pain, the doctor moved Peter a bit to pull his pants down, However, he let the underwear be for now. "You okay?"

Peter groaned in pain when the third slap hit him, and he huffed out a breath and mumbled the number under his breath. He arched his hips so that Tony could manoeuvre his underwear down his legs, and when Tony asked if he was okay, he smirked. “‘m fine. That all you got, Pervert?” He jeered, squirming on the man’s lap.

"Is this still Loki who's daring you to be a brat?" Tony asked while rubbing a hand over Peter's ass cheeks, making sure he felt the sting and heat from the three hits.

Peter hissed in pain, trying to wriggle away from Tony’s rubbing hands. “N-No, ‘s alllllll me.” He drawled, wiggling his ass playfully. “Lo started it, but now I know how f-fun it is, ‘n how bothered you get by it.” He teased, looking up over his shoulder at the doctor.

"Me, bothered?" Tony asked with a scoff and chuckle, pushing Peter's head back down. "The only one hot and bothered here is you." He drawled, shifting his thigh to rub at Peter's crotch, knowing that the boy was hard or at least starting to get hard.

Peter wasn’t expecting the sudden friction against his dick, and so when Tony’s thigh suddenly rubbed against his clothed crotch Peter couldn’t hold back the high-pitched whine. “O-Oh God...!” He keened, rolling his hips to try and get more friction against his dick. “Y-You’re an a-asshole, Pervert.” He hissed, clenching his fists as hard as he could, enough to turn his knuckles white.

Chuckling darkly at Peter's desperation, Tony hit him once more. "Watch your mouth, Parker, or you'll get more spanks than you asked for." The doctor threatened while rubbing in the sting firmly.

Peter tried to snort in derision, but all that came out was another soft whine. “Y-You don’t even know how many I asked for. It c-could be loads.” He said, but he was interrupted by his own squealing when Tony hit him across the ass again. He gasped for breath as the doctor rubbed the sting into his flesh, each circular motion sending new flashes of pain through him.

Tony laughed as he looked at how Peter squirmed across his lap. At this point, what the boy was claiming about being an unbeatable brat and the noises of pain that he was making wasn’t adding up. The boy would cry soon enough, Tony thought to himself and responded with another hit to Peter’s ass.

It took Peter a little longer to calm down from the pain of the most recent slap, his breathing slightly off-kilter as he felt ripples of pain spreading across his ass and the tops of his thighs. He tried to wriggle again, hoping that his dick would drag against Tony’s thigh and it would grant him some relief, but the man’s hand on the back of his neck stopped him from moving very far. “S-Something funny, Pervert?” He asked, noticing how Tony was laughing at him.

”Just you squirming across my lap with your pants around your knees, trying to convince me that you’re in control.” Tony explained, finally pulling down Peter’s underwear to expose his naked ass. He was starting to get red already.

Peter opened his mouth in outrage to reply, but yelped when his underwear was suddenly tugged down his thighs. Suddenly the fabric of Tony’s slacks were rubbing against his naked dick and he groaned, dropping his head forward in defeat as he braced himself for the next spank. “I-I am, you know.” He said, grinning to himself. “‘m in control. More than you.” He said, waiting for Tony to snap. He loved when that happened.

”You keep telling yourself that...” Tony said lowly, lifting his hand up to deliver two quick blows. ”But, deep down you know that little boys like you don’t get to be in control. Only Daddies, like me, get to do that.” Tony explained while Peter squirmed.

Peter couldn’t even think of something smart to say back, the two slaps against his ass making him cry out in pain and thrash on the man’s lap to get away. “D-Dah...!” He stammered, not even saying the full title properly. He could feel his dick throbbing, trapped between his stomach and Tony’s thigh, and he was so aroused it almost hurt. “D-ahh...” he tried again, his voice getting caught in his throat.

”What was that, Peter?” Tony asked teasingly, moving his hand from the back of the boy’s neck to grab his jaw instead, lifting his head up so that they had some eye contact. ”Who’s in control? Who’s in charge here?” The doctor asked lowly, his other hand snaking in between Peter’s ass cheeks.

Peter groaned when his head was forced up, and his jaw was tightly gripped in the man’s hand. He choked for air again, his eyes wide as he looked Tony in the face. He was about to answer, but then he felt the man’s hand slipping between his legs and the teasing touch of a fingertip very near to his untouched hole, and he squeaked. “Y-You are! You are!” He gasped, wrenching his eyes away from Tony’s face.

Tony smirked triumphantly, though he could sense that the boy was nervous because of where the doctor currently had his hand. “That’s a good boy… You’re my good boy, aren’t you?” He asked, temporarily moving his hand away from between Peter’s ass cheeks to rub at one of them, watching the boy flinch as he massaged the sting.

“Y-Yes, Daddy.” Peter responded quietly, wincing at how Tony seemed to be making the pain worse by squeezing his ass. He let out a soft whimper but Tony shushed him soothingly, before maneuvering his body so that he was sat on the man’s lap and his legs were wrapped around Tony’s waist.

“Come on, sweetheart. I’ve got some burn cream upstairs, that’ll make it better.” Tony murmured, standing up off the couch with a tight grip on the boy’s body so that he was carrying him. He headed out of the living room and upstairs with Peter nuzzling into the crook of his neck.


	68. 68

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more domesticity.

Peter awoke the next morning to Tony’s alarm beeping. It sounded like it was a hundred miles away, and he slowly rose to sit up in bed. He looked over at Tony, who was still fast asleep and snoring gently, and smiled fondly. Maybe he would want some breakfast cooked for him… The thought alone was enough to make Peter get up and out of bed, picking up his discarded hoodie off of the floor and creeping out of the bedroom to head down to the kitchen.

Tony shut his alarm off with a clumsy hand before going back to sleep, pleased to have some time off and sleeping in for once. However, he didn’t sleep for much longer after waking up at 6:30 am nearly every day for years now. He rolled around on the bed, expecting to find Peter next to him, but frowned when he only found empty sheets. ”Peter?” Tony called out groggily, sitting up in bed and after pulling on a t-shirt and some pyjama pants, he made his way downstairs.

Peter pursed his lips as he looked around the kitchen, wondering what to make. Tony would like bacon, right? He headed to the fridge and found an unopened pack near the back, and he grinned as he opened it up. As he prepared the bacon, and also some eggs, he fished his phone out of his pocket to play some music out loud. The first song to come on was The 1975’s ‘The Sound’, and the boy grinned as he began to slowly but surely dance around the kitchen while the food cooked. His dancing had always been awful, MJ always teased him about it, but he didn’t care as he spun around the kitchen with his fingers clicking and his head ducking and weaving.

The sight that met Tony in the kitchen was so heavenly sweet that it was almost sickening. Peter was dressed in one of his boxers, but one of his own hoodies as he danced around the kitchen. The room smelt of bacon, eggs and love. Tony was speechless where he stood and watched the boy spin around while singing along to some cheesy teenage pop and Tony loved it all.

Peter didn’t even register Tony standing at the doorway of the kitchen. He was too busy trying not to trip over his own feet as he danced, slapping the countertops in time to the music as he moved around the kitchen. He spun in circles again and again and again until he spotted Tony gaping at him. The feeling of embarrassment didn’t even cross the boy’s mind as he headed over and grabbed the man’s wrists to pull him into the kitchen to dance with him.

Tony was about to decline Peter’s offer to dance with him, but he could hardly do so when the boy looked so sweet, innocent and happy. It took a moment for Tony to figure out the beat of the song, but it didn’t matter much anyway as they just danced around. The doctor even spun Peter around and made him land against his chest before kissing him.

Peter could see the hesitation in Tony’s eyes for a moment, but was glad when the doctor let himself be pulled into the kitchen. They trod on each other’s toes a couple of times as they figured out the rhythm together, Peter helping Tony, and soon they were dancing together with their hands clasped tightly together. When he was spun suddenly, Peter squealed with delight and barely had time to recover before he was being swept up into a kiss. He giggled against the man’s lips, before pulling away and arranging them in a waltzing position to step around the kitchen in time with the music.

The song came to an end too soon for Tony’s liking and a much slower and softer one followed, but he didn’t stop dancing. He placed his hands on Peter’s hips, gently swinging with a soft smile on his face. ”Good morning.” Tony greeted, smiling down at Peter.

Peter pouted when the song came to an end, replaced with a Coldplay song he hadn’t heard in years, and the two of them were stood swaying in the kitchen. “Hi.” He mumbled, the tips of his ears pink as the feeling of embarrassment finally caught up with him. There was a huge, ear-to-ear grin on his face though, one that made his eyes crinkle up, and it stayed there for a while. “Sleep well?”

”I did. What about you?” Tony asked, moving his hands to rest at the small of Peter’s back, rubbing up and down slowly. The grin on the boy’s face was adorable and the doctor couldn’t help but mirror it as they stood in the middle of the kitchen.

Peter blushed, dropping his eyes from the doctor’s face, and nodded. “Yeah. I dreamt, uhm, dreamt that…” He would’ve continued, but a glance over to the frying pan made him suddenly move away from the man and towards the stove. “Shit, the bacon!” He cursed, flipping the rashers over so that the other side would cook. He checked on the eggs as well, but luckily they were okay.

Tony stepped back to let Peter pass, but quickly came to help him and make sure they weren’t starting a fire anytime soon. When everything seemed okay, Tony turned back to Peter. ”You were saying?”

“Hm?” Peter turned to see Tony watching him. “Oh, it, uh…” He blushed once more and focussed on pushing the bacon around the frying pan with his spatula. “I-I… I dreamt that we… you know. _Did it_. Like- uh… you know.” He shrugged with one shoulder, chewing on his lip as he avoided saying explicitly what he had dreamt about.

”How can you still be shy after what we did last night? What _you_ did last night.” Tony chuckled, hugging Peter from behind and kissing his neck sweetly.

Oh, yeah, last night. Tony had taken Peter up to his room and applied the soothing cream to the flesh of his ass, which had eventually turned into Peter getting hard from how the doctor was touching him. Tony had gotten him off by fingering him for the first time, only two fingers at the most but with such precision to his prostate that it left the boy almost screaming in pleasure. After he came, he returned the favour by sucking Tony off.

”Come on, what did you dream about?” The doctor pushed on, enjoying how the boy squirmed in his hold.

Peter’s blush only got more pronounced when Tony appeared behind him, his arms wrapping around his waist and the man’s face burying itself into the crook of his neck. He squirmed and wriggled, clearly flustered as he felt Tony’s lips move up and down his neck. “‘m not _used_  to it...” he explained quietly, resisting the temptation to melt into Tony’s arms. “I-I dreamt that we, uhm... we- you f-fucked me.” Peter stammered, trying to bite back the flustered smile that was growing on his face.

Tony felt a wave of possessiveness wash over him when Peter said that. He liked the idea very much and smirked. ”Hmm. Was it a nice dream?” Tony drawled in between kisses to Peter’s neck. ”Sounds like a nice one at least.” He smirked.

Peter mewled gently at how Tony’s grip around his waist seemed to get tighter, and his voice seemed to get lower with arousal. “Mhm...” he nodded, his tongue darting out to wet his dry lips. “Was... was good. I mean, I-I imagined it felt good.” He said quietly. After a moments pause, he spoke again. “How would you... you know. How would you, uhm, do it?” He asked, squirming as Tony’s mouth reached the sensitive skin under his jawline.

”Fuck you, you mean?” Tony asked lowly, taking Peter’s earlobe between his teeth and biting gently. ”Hmm, I’d go slow I think. Gotta be gentle with little boys like you.” He explained, letting his hands roam over Peter’s torso.

Peter nodded, but froze when Tony nibbled on his earlobe. He looked down to watch the man’s hands rise up his torso and explore his chest over his hoodie. He desperately wanted him to go under, to touch his bare skin, but didn’t mention it just yet. “Daddy’ll go slow?” He asked, his voice becoming more airy and childlike as he relaxed against Tony’s firm chest. “Will... Will Daddy touch me like last time?”

”I will, baby boy.” Tony confirmed. ”I’ll go nice and easy on you, working you open with my fingers just like last night.” He smirked, planting more kisses along the boy’s neck.

Peter whimpered, tilting his head so that Tony could reach more of his neck. The memory of being bent over the doctor’s lap with two fingers inside of him made him flustered, and his dick twitched in interest. “A-And then what?” He asked, turning the bacon over with his spatula which was grasped in a now-trembling hand.

”And then I would make sure you’re loose enough for me and get you all nice and relaxed before sinking into you...” Tony explained further, feeling himself get a bit hard at the idea and by having the boy so close. He had gotten just a taste of Peter last night and now he was hungry for more.

Peter keened, and his eyes widened suddenly when he felt Tony’s crotch press against his ass, and the man’s dick hardening slowly but surely. “Ngh... P-Pervert...!” He whined, squirming against the man’s firm body as the thought of him being sat snugly on Tony’s cock burned itself into his mind’s eye.

”That doesn’t work on me anymore, Peter.” Tony chuckled darkly before patting Peter’s ass. ”Why don’t you finish up those eggs and the bacon while I set the table for us?” He suggested, grabbing the boy’s jaw to tilt his head back for a kiss.

Peter’s body flinched forward when Tony patted him on the ass, and he rolled his eyes before leaning back to kiss him. “What a shame, I know how much it turned you on.” He grinned, before turning his attention back to the food, which was sizzling nicely. He turned the bacon one last time for good measure, before grabbing two plates from the nearby cupboard and sliding the food onto them. With a paper towel, he carefully dabbed the excess grease off of the bacon and eggs, while he turned off the stove with his other hand.

Tony didn’t argue back, because it was sort of true, and went about finding drinks for them instead. He got the orange juice and started the coffee machine. ”You seem quite at home here.” He pointed out, not thinking much of if, but then added. ”I like it.”

Peter picked up the two plates of food and carried them to the kitchen island, just in time for Tony to set down a glass of orange juice for him while he waited for his coffee to brew. “You do?” He asked, his eyes wide and trusting for a moment, and then looked down abashedly. “I do as well. Feels nice.” He mumbled quietly, smiling to himself. Suddenly, he remembered something with a gasp and ran out of the kitchen. He headed upstairs and grabbed Spidey off of his guest bed, before heading back downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, Tony was watching him with an amused grin, and the boy simply held Spidey up as the explanation for his sudden disappearance.

”Ah, Spidey needs breakfast too.” Tony chuckled, amused by Peter’s act. To some it may seem childish, but Tony just found it all adorable. He also took it as a sign that the boy trusted him enough to be vulnerable around him. They both sat down to eat breakfast and Tony hummed in pleasure as he ate the eggs. ”You’re a good cook. Thanks, baby boy.” He smiled, not even noticing the use of the pet name in this context.

Peter nodded with a smile on his face, and propped Spidey up next to him when he sat at the kitchen island. At the compliment, Peter’s face lit up and he grinned again. “Thanks. Sometimes I make stuff for May, you know? When she’s too tired from work.” He explained, cutting up some of his bacon and stuffing it into his mouth. The pet name made him feel all soft and fuzzy inside, and he smiled to himself as he continued eating. Every so often he glanced up at Tony, like a child looking at their crush across a room, and quickly looked away when the man looked back.

Tony didn’t point out how adorable Peter looked while when he was caught staring. Besides, the doctor didn’t want to distract the boy from his food. ”Where are your meds at?” Tony asked after they had both eaten half of their breakfast. He got up to fix himself a cup of coffee.

“They’re in that cupboard there.” Peter pointed, but then snorted when Tony had no idea where he was pointing. “Lemme get them…” He mumbled, getting up out of his seat and heading over to the mentioned cupboard. Even though he didn’t need to, he tiptoed up to get them and headed to the sink to pour himself a glass of water, seeing as his orange juice had finished. He took them one by one, and then did a show of jazz hands to indicate he had taken them.

Tony couldn’t help but stare at Peter as he hopped around the kitchen, transfixed by his whole act. Once the boy had taken his meds, the doctor nodded with a smile. ”Good boy, Peter.” He praised, then gestured to the food still on Peter’s plate.

That one sentence was enough to make Peter squirm where he stood, and he didn’t even protest when Tony indicated for him to finish his breakfast. He sat back down dutifully and kept eating, one hand on his fork while the other played with Spidey’s tufted fur. He continued to keep looking over at Tony while he ate, and then suddenly snorted with laughter.

When Peter began eating again, Tony did the same. They ate peacefully for a while, but at the sudden sound of Peter snorting, Tony looked up with a baffled expression. ”What? What is it?”

Peter swallowed his mouthful of bacon before he spoke. “Your hair, it’s all…” He pointed at it, and then made a hand gesture to indicate that Tony’s hair was stuck up in all directions from his sleep. “Only just noticed. It makes you look like a mad scientist.” He giggled, twirling his fork between his fingers as he looked at the man.

Tony blushed a bit when Peter pointed out the state of his hair and quickly began fixing it, but without a mirror he had no idea if he had made it better or worse. ”You’re no better off. You gonna see Strange with that hair?” Tony shot back with a laugh, using his fork to gesture at Peter’s own hair.

Peter’s grin widened when he saw how Tony blushed. It quickly occurred to him that he had never seen the man blush before, and he blinked for a moment. He looked… cute, which was not a word that Peter would usually use to describe Tony. That train of thought was quickly derailed when Tony pointed out his own hair, and Peter scrunched his face up and ran his hands through it. “It could be a new style! How would you know, you said you’re not ‘hip’.”

Tony rolled his eyes at Peter’s snarky comment fondly. ”If that’s hip, then the youth really is lost this time.” He said back, smirking around his mouthful of bacon.

It was Peter’s turn to roll his eyes as he watched the man eat. “Whatever you say, _old man_ … Not all of us can be Greasers and Pink Ladies, you know. We have better things to do than go to drive thru theatres and diners.” He said, giggling into his food at the thought of Tony wearing a leather jacket with slicked back hair.

Tony scoffed before picking up his coffee and taking a sip. He considered Peter’s statement before speaking. ”You would be a very pretty Pink Lady.” Tony smiled, hinting at how they would be a cute couple like Danny and Sandy.

The tips of Peter’s ears went bright red at that, and he dropped his gaze down to his own plate as his mind was suddenly filled with images of himself wearing a Pink Lady’s jacket, with Tony in a leather jacket by his side. “Shu’up ‘n drink your coffee.” He said not unkindly, poking at his food and trying to hide the smile on his face.

Tony chuckled and turned back to his drink with a smirk. They finished their meal in peace before getting up and putting the dishes into the dishwasher. ”So, you should start getting ready to see Strange.” Tony started, looking at the clock on the wall.

Once they had put their dishes into the dishwasher, Peter also looked up at the clock. “Huh…” He mumbled, seeing that it was 9:30am. “Yeah, probably…” He said, before looking over at Spidey. He pursed his lips, looking at the stuffie intently for a moment. “He, uhm… he said that we would be trying more age regression stuff today. Do you… do you think he would mind if I brought Spidey with me in my bag?” He asked, looking back at Tony.

”No, no, not at all.” Tony smiled, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. ”Bring what you need to get comfortable and regress.” He assured before a thought occured to him. ”So, you haven’t regressed with him yet or what?” Tony asked. It had only been a few sessions, but still Peter knows how to regress by himself now, so Tony doesn’t see why he shouldn’t be able to do that with Strange. Unless, his attachment issues are hindering him from regressing because Tony is his Daddy and not Stephen.

Peter nodded, smiling gently at the thought of getting to bring Spidey along with him. When Tony asked him about his regression, however, he grimaced. “It’s, uhm, it’s kinda hard. I tried last time, like we were playing with Legos ‘n stuff, but I just _couldn’t._  I dunno why.” He shrugged, scuffing his foot against the kitchen tile. “I was talking to Loki about it, ‘n he said I should tell Strange, but... it’s kinda embarrassing, you know? I don’t wanna offend him, it kinda implies I’m not comfortable enough around him...”

”The last thing he’ll be is offended.” Tony chuckled, squeezing the hand he still had on Peter’s shoulder. ”I think you should tell him, so then he can help you out and together you can find a way that you can regress.” He explained with a soft smile, knowing this was the core of Peter’s mental problems. ”You have issues with attachment, Peter, so it may take some time, but Strange and I are here to help you with that.”

 “M’kay.” The boy nodded again, looking up to meet Tony’s soft gaze. He smiled back, and although Tony’s explanation had echoes of his doctor-self coming through, Peter felt encouraged by it. His hand went up to his shoulder to rest on top of Tony’s, and then he tugged it off so that he could kiss the man’s palm gently.

Tony smiled sweetly at Peter and moved his hand to cup his cheek. ”It might just take some time, but you’ll get there.” He assured before patting his cheek gently. ”Now go get ready and I’ll clean up here.”

Peter simply shrugged in response to that, and nuzzled the man’s hand one last time before stepping away to grab Spidey off of the kitchen table. He also went to grab his phone from a nearby counter, and then headed up to get dressed. The ghost of a smile still played on his lips as he thought about how goofy he and Tony had acted this morning, and remained there as he got dressed and brushed his teeth.

Tony watched Peter skip away with a soft smile on his face before turning to the dishes on the kitchen island. He cleaned the kitchen swiftly before climbing up the stairs too to get dressed and ready to head to work.

Peter could hear Tony climbing the stairs from the bathroom, and so he quickly finished brushing his teeth to creep to the man’s bedroom door. He peeked in just in time to see the man shirtless with his back to the door, and the toned muscles of Tony’s back made Peter squeak. When Tony turned on the spot to see where the squeak came from, Peter quickly ducked away from the door, his hand clamped over his mouth to stop his giggles.

Tony was just minding his own business while changing into his work clothes when he heard some muffled giggles. He turned around with his shirt unbuttoned and smiled knowingly. ”Peter, I know you're there.” He said with a slightly raised voice before turning to the mirror and buttoning his shirt.

Peter’s giggles only got more excitable when Tony addressed him. He continued to peek around the corner, like a child playing peek-a-boo, and grinned when he saw that Tony was facing away from him once more. “No ‘m not.” He said playfully, ducking again when he thought he saw Tony flinching to indicate he was turning around.

Tony rolled his eyes fondly before focusing on finding a nice tie to wear that would match the rest of his outfit. ”Sure you aren't.” He chuckled sarcastically. The doctor didn't even have to shift his gaze from his tie to know that Peter was still looking at him.

Peter waited a couple of seconds before sneaking into the room and creeping up behind the man as he stood adjusting his tie. He knew that Tony could probably see him, but he didn’t care as he suddenly tiptoed up and covered the man’s eyes with the palms of his hands. “Guess who!” He giggled, peering over Tony’s shoulder to look at the doctor’s covered face.

Tony could clearly see Peter in the reflection of the mirror, but did not pay the boy any mind to keep up their little game. When his eyes were covered, the doctor laughed out and hummed aloud like he was thinking. ”A silly boy who's about to be late for his therapy appointment?” Tony pointed out more than he guessed.

 “Huh?” Peter quickly glanced over at the clock, and his eyes widened when he realised that it had reached 10am already, which meant he needed to leave soon. “Ah, shit!” He cursed, dropping his hands from Tony’s face so that he could see again. He leaned up to kiss the man on the cheek, and really had to restrain himself to not smother Tony’s entire face in kisses. “I-I should probably go, then!” He giggled, dashing out of the room to grab his backpack from the guest room. He put Spidey inside carefully, before zipping it up and slinging the bag over his back while his other hand shoved his phone in his trouser pocket. “You’ll be back normal time, right?” He called out.

Tony smiled at the kiss and was about to return the favour, but Peter was already half way out the room. With a chuckle, the doctor finished tying his tie and adjusted it so that it fit nicely. ”Yeah, back normal time.” Tony called back to confirm and then added. ”And you better not go to McDonalds for lunch! Come back here and make something or find a healthier place than that!”

Peter rolled his eyes and groaned loudly in exasperation, loud enough for Tony to hear him. “Alright, _Mom_!” He shouted, but laughed halfway through his sentence to show he wasn’t being serious. He stopped by Tony’s bedroom door again with his backpack over one shoulder just in time to see the doctor finishing adjusting his tie. “‘m going now, Pervert.” He said, the nickname now fond as he waited for Tony to leave the bedroom.

”Just fuck off already!” Tony laughed, shooing Peter out of the room. ”Strange will bill you extra for being late.” He added and watched as Peter scrambled down the stairs.

 “Language!” Peter called out in response, sticking his tongue out at the man before running down the stairs two at a time and heading out of the front door. It slammed behind him and he took off in the direction of the nearest bus stop, his backpack thudding against his back as he ran. He soon got to the stop, and huffed out a breath when he got a seat on the bus that took him to Strange’s office.


	69. 69

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> secrets inadvertently revealed at strange's office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at chapter number* nice.

Eventually, Peter arrived at the doctor’s building, and did a little fist pump in celebration that he in fact _wasn’t_  late. He couldn’t wait to flaunt that in front of Tony. He headed into the building and collapsed into the waiting room chair, still slightly out of breath from running to the bus, but no sooner had he sat down was he being called up by the doctor to enter his office. He waved and mumbled a “hi” on his way in, and settled in his usual seat.

”You seem a little out of breath.” Stephen commented with a smile as he sat down in his own seat across Peter. The doctor had put the box of legos close to them once more in the hopes that the boy would use them and regress during their session today.

 “Huh? Oh, yeah, I... I had to run for the bus.” Peter said, laughing to himself. “My bo- friend. My friend said that I wouldn’t get here on time, so I had to prove him wrong.” He explained, cursing himself for accidentally referring to Tony as his boyfriend.

It was true, though, wasn’t it? The thought of that made Peter’s stomach erupt into butterflies, but he ignored that feeling as he swung his backpack off his back and placed it on the floor by his chair.

“So yeah, that’s all. I don’t run much, I get out of breath easily.”

”I see.” Stephen smiled before clearing his throat. ”So, how have you been since Tuesday? Have you been to see your aunt again?” The doctor started, getting right to the point.

“I’ve been…” The memory of Peter and Tony’s argument came back in full force, and the boy paused for a second before answering. “I’ve been alright. Ups and downs, but, you know. I saw May on Wednesday, that was good. She’s doing better than she was.” He said.

”How was it seeing her?” Stephen asked further, remembering what Peter had said about their argument, school and how complicated it all was.

Peter shrugged. “It was okay. She was more awake this time, so we talked a lot more, but… she kept trying to get me to talk about myself. Like, she kept sayin’ she was worried about me, which was weird. Shouldn’t I be the one worried about her, not the other way round?”

Stephen shrugged with one of his shoulders. ”Did that make you feel any sort of way? Hearing your aunt say that she’s worried about you while she’s hospitalised?”

A thoughtful, yet pained expression crossed Peter’s face. “It was just… I dunno, I didn’t like it. Like, she’s the one that’s been stabbed but she’s insisting that I’m the one that needs to be cared for? It was… It felt suffocating.”

”Suffocating? Tell me more.” Stephen prompted gently.

Peter made another pained expression and began to slowly squirm in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the question. His hand, which had previously been resting on the arm rest of the chair, slowly dropped down to feel the strap of his rucksack, and his fingers fiddled with the zipper tab across the top like he was itching to open the bag. He didn’t know how best to ask the man if he could get Spidey out, and so he simply sat there chewing his lip while absentmindedly fiddling with his backpack.

Stephen eyed Peter closely, a bit confused over what he was trying to do with his backpack. However, he understood completely that the boy was uncomfortable taking about his aunt and how he felt about her. ”Peter?” Stephen tried calling gently, smiling reassuringly at the boy when their eyes met.

Peter nervously met Strange’s gaze, his fingers still fiddling with the zipper tab of his backpack. “C-Can I... I-I brought somethin’ along cos... cos I thought it might help with stuff.” He said, slowly leaning down to unzip his bag and pull Spidey out of it. He plonked the stuffie on his lap, carefully combing the fur with his fingers so that the stuffie didn’t look like it had just been shoved into a backpack, and then looked at the doctor like he was almost daring him to argue against it.

”Oh, I remember him. Spidey, wasn’t it?” Stephen asks, remembering the stuffie from the time he had done a nightshift at the mental health facility and met Peter in the hallway. ”You brought him to help you relax, did you?” Stephen guessed with a smile to show that he wasn’t upset or anything.

Peter’s eyes lit up at the fact that Strange had remembered the stuffie’s name, and so he felt a little more comfortable in sitting with the spider on his lap. “Mhm...” he nodded, his voice soft as he looked down at Spidey and began fiddling with his legs. “Thought it might help.” He explained quietly.

”He’s definitely cute.” Stephen pointed out, seeing that the stuffie was a little worn out and loved dearly. ”Is there anything else you think he can help with?” The doctor prompted.

Peter’s face split into a nervous grin at that point. “Yeah... He is cute.” He nodded in agreement, looking down at Spidey’s beady eyes. “I brought him cos... cos I thought he’d help with... with the regression stuff. I couldn’t do it last time, ‘n he’s always with me when I do it, so...” he mumbled, finally looking back up at Strange to see the man watching him and not Spidey.

”You couldn’t do it last time.” Stephen repeated with a nod. ”What do you think happened? Like what stopped you from regressing?”

Peter pursed his lips, deep in thought, before he spoke. “I think... I think it was cos ‘m not used to it with other people, you know? It’s nothing to do with you s-specifically, but it’s that whole thing of like... I don’t think it can just happen with anyone, you know? I d-don’t wanna try ‘n offend you or anything!” He explained, his voice getting high pitched as he tried to stop an argument before it had already started.

”That’s all right, Peter, don’t worry.” Stephen assured hastily before the boy got any ideas. ”Therapy doesn’t work the same way on everyone. Some latch on very easily, while others need months to get comfortable. Besides, I think you have been very open and honest with me so far and I know that with your issues, that isn’t an easy task. You’ve done really well so far and I think you’re really brave for bringing Spidey along and taking him out.” Stephen praised.

Peter nodded, his heartbeat soon becoming more steady as Strange calmed him down from overthinking the situation. He couldn’t help a small smile at the praise given to him, and squirmed again in his chair. “Thanks.” He mumbled quietly, still looking down at his stuffie. “...Do I get to play with Legos now?” He asked, side-eyeing the box that he had noticed was sat on the table.

”Of course, knock yourself out.” Stephen chuckled, gesturing to the box of legos. He gave Peter a moment to find something to build before starting on a new topic. ”Have you been to school since we last spoke? Been to see your friends perhaps?”

Peter grinned in excitement and hauled the box closer to him, reaching inside to grab a couple of pieces so that he could build. “Haven’t been to school, but I saw Ned ‘n MJ yesterday! We spent the whole day together cos the fire alarm went off at school and they got to go home early.” He explained, his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration as he built.

”What did you guys do together then?” Stephen asked, happy to hear that Peter was keeping in touch with his friends as isolation would only make his mental state worse.

“We went to Ned’s house for the afternoon, cos his house has a trampoline in the back yard. We spent ages on there, ‘n then his mom made us dinner, and then when me ‘n MJ left in the evening we just kinda walked around the neighbourhood for a while talkin’ about all sorts of stuff. Then we both went home.” He recounted, grunting with effort to separate two tiny bits of Lego that had gotten stuck together.

”Sounds like a good time.” Stephen said based on Peter’s good mood and little smile on his face as he recounted the events. ”What did you talk about with MJ?”

The force of which Peter had to pull the two Lego pieces apart made him squeak in surprise when they finally separated, and for a second he forgot the question entirely. “Huh? Oh, we... we talked about everythin’. She was telling me about her charity work, ‘n then it turned into a conversation about superpowers for some reason, ‘n then... yeah, we were just talking about all sorts.”

Stephen chuckled quietly at Peter’s little squeak and took it as a sign that he was regressing a bit. ”MJ sounds like a good friend. Is that correct?” The doctor stated, watching the boy continue to build with the legos.

Peter nodded. “Ned ‘n MJ are my best friends. Ned’s higher up, though, cos I’ve known him longer. It’s like...” The boy briefly dropped the Legos into his lap so that he could demonstrate his point. “Ned’s like... here?” Peter held his left hand up, showing Ned’s friendship level as being quite high. “And then MJ’s like... here.” He said, holding up his other hand and placing it slightly below his left. There was a minuscule gap between them, but enough to make his point clear. He then dropped his hands and picked the Lego up again to continue building.

Stephen followed Peter’s demonstration closely and nodded to show that he understood. The boy was definitely regressing if he felt like he needed his hands to demonstrate such an easy concept. ”Is there anything else that makes Ned such an important friend to you? Besides that you’ve known each other for a long time.” Stephen asked.

 “Uhm...” Peter hummed, drumming his fingertips against the side of his Lego creation as he thought. “We like all the same stuff. He likes Lego too, but he likes the Star Wars Lego the most, so we always build that stuff together.” He explained. “‘N we play video games together, ‘n he tells me his secrets ‘n I tell him mine. He never tells anyone either, even though sometimes he can be a bit excitable.” Peter said, smiling at the thought of his best friend. “He’s just cool.”

Stephen smiled softly at Peter’s description of his friend. It sounded like he provided great social support to the boy. ”What sorts of secrets has he told you about?”

“Recently he’s just been tellin’ me about this girl on our decathlon team that he likes.” Peter said. “Her name’s Betty, she’s really nice and me ‘n MJ spent like a whole hour yesterday tryin’ to convince him to ask her out when he sees her next but I don’t think he’ll do it.” He mumbled, his eyebrows furrowing when he realised he had put a lego piece in the wrong place.

”Ahh, crushes.” Stephen hummed. ”Those are big secrets for sure. Ned must trust you quite a lot to tell you about his crush.” The doctor pointed out. ”What about you, Peter? Do you have your eye on anyone?”

Peter froze. Oh shit. Oh _shit_. How was he gonna answer that? He squirmed in his seat, about a million thoughts running through his head.

“Uh… I-I… I d-did, yeah… not, uhm, not any more. I r-really liked this one guy but… I don’t, uh, don’t speak to him anymore, so…” He stammered, now actively avoiding Strange’s gaze.

”Was he a classmate of yours or?” Stephen asked, curious to know more when Peter seemed to grow so flustered.

Peter gulped, the click of his glottis sounding much louder in his head than it probably would’ve sounded to Strange. “N-No, he… he was at the facility.” He admitted, his cheeks now burning a bright red from embarrassment. He prayed that Strange didn’t go further than that, but he had a gut-twisting feeling that he would.

”Another patient?” Stephen asked, thinking it was Loki that Peter had grown fond of romantically. He wouldn’t be surprised based on all the notes that said the two boys interacted quite a lot while Peter was admitted.

Peter could lie. He could lie and say it was a patient, lie and say it was Loki. It would be so easy, but he knew that he would get found out sooner or later. He slumped forward, putting his head in his hands and shaking it. “It was…”

Deep breaths.

“It was Stark.” He said, loud enough for Strange to hear, but quiet enough to be clearly embarrassed about admitting it.

Oh. Stephen was a little surprised, but it was not unheard of that patients fell in love with staff members. ”Your own doctor.” Stephen pointed out. ”How did you feel about that?”

Peter winced at the emphasis that Strange put on the fact that Tony used to be his doctor. It reminded him of everything that was wrong with what he was doing, and it took him a second to answer. “I hated it.” He answered quietly. His heart pounded in his chest like a war drum, the sound of his own heartbeat drowning out everything else. “It…” Peter flailed with his words until he fell silent, unable to answer.

Stephen gave Peter a moment to gather his thoughts, but when the boy continued to stay quiet, the doctor felt like he had to say something. ”You can talk freely, Peter. This is all confidential. Remember I’m a professional secret-keeper?” Stephen smiled a little as he reassured his patient.

Peter could feel his bottom lip trembling at the thought of confidentiality. That only reminded him of how Tony had coerced him into not saying anything about what they had done at the facility, through that one simple word. He let out a shaky breath, putting the Lego to one side so that he could hold Spidey properly. “Loki used to make fun of me for it.” He finally said, fiddling with the stuffie’s fur.

”He did? Do you know why he did that?” Stephen asked further.

The boy shrugged. “Just somethin’ to talk about, I guess.” He said, twisting his fingers through Spidey’s tufted fur and then untangling them again. “I didn’t… didn’t really mind it, like he was never _rude_ , he was just… it was just teasing. I could deal with it.”

”I see.” Stephen said. ”But, how did the sessions work for you with Stark? Considering that you had a crush on him.” The doctor asked, curious to know how Peter’s feelings towards his doctor affected his recovery.

Peter was now very uncomfortable, his head filled with thoughts of how he and Tony would spend the sessions sat on the couch making out until their lips went numb. “They… They were fine.” He said. “I-If anything it… it kinda helped. Like, uhm, it kinda gave me something to work for, you know? I-I know it’s dumb but… I wanted to get better to… to make him proud of me? I dunno.” He said, chewing on his bottom lip.

Stephen nodded as he listened. ”And do you think you made him proud of you?”

 “I think so. I hope so.” Peter replied. Tony had told him multiple times that he had made him proud, but Peter couldn’t say that.

He had to act like he hadn’t seen the man since he was discharged from the facility, like they were strangers.


	70. 70

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> little adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these may seem like filler chapters (and to some extent they are), but we do have a major over-arching plot for this fic. this is just a slow part of it, but it will soon pick up. for now, have some fluff x

Peter couldn’t get out of Strange’s office fast enough after their session. He hoped to the high heavens that the man hadn’t picked up on how awkward he had been about his crush on Tony, and prayed that he wouldn’t try and bring it up again.

On the bus back, Peter sighed. There was not much to do at Tony’s house except watch Netflix, and he was getting pretty bored of that. He impulsively decided to head back to his apartment and unplug the Nintendo Wii from his TV, hoping that the doctor wouldn’t get too mad at him for setting it up in his house. It was something to do, after all. He got back to the doctor’s house with the games console shoved in his backpack, and spent the afternoon hooking it up to the TV, with a half eaten sandwich on a plate beside him.

Tony headed back home after yet another long day of trying to get Harley to talk. The kid was a challenge to say the least, and usually Tony would have been delighted with solving it, but now he found himself quite exhausted. Perhaps it had to do something how the doctor hadn’t actually stopped working for over a week now, despite going home for the night. He would have to stop treating Peter like a patient, and not just because it was exhausting, but because the boy had specifically asked for it. And how could Tony say no when he asked with those big brown eyes?

Parking in the driveway, Tony found himself smiling as he walked up to the front door, knowing Peter was waiting for him.

“Shit, which port does this one go in…” Peter mumbled to himself. He was bent double over the TV, trying to figure out which wires he had to connect to the back of the TV. It was made doubly difficult by the fact that he was technically looking at the control panel upside down, and he didn’t even hear the doctor enter through the front door. “Is it this one…?” He said, before taking a step back and crouching down to turn the Wii on.

”Picking apart my TV, Parker?” Tony laughed, seeing Peter fiddling with a console that he did not remember buying for his TV system. ”What on Earth are you doing?” The doctor added as a more serious question, setting his briefcase on the floor.

Peter let out a high pitched squeal of surprise when he heard Tony’s voice so close to him, and he turned to see the doctor watching him with an amused look on his face. “I- Uh… I kinda got bored of watching Netflix, so I thought I’d try ‘n rig up my old Nintendo Wii to your TV. And I think I’ve got it working, lemme…” He turned back to the TV, grabbing the remote and changing the source of the TV until the Wii menu came up. “Yes!” He crowed in triumph. “I brought a bunch of games with me as well, we can play them together if you want.” He offered, trying not to look too hopeful about it.

Tony had heard of Wii half a dozen times in his life and for some reason he recognised the song that started playing as a menu came up, but that was all he knew and he stared at the TV a little dumbly. ”What sort of games?” He asked, trying to look excited and not confused. He may work with patients around Peter’s age all day, but he was really out of his depth now.

“I brought a bunch, hold on…” Peter leaned back to haul his backpack closer to him, pulling Spidey out in the process. He frowned at how squished the stuffie looked, but that was because he had to make space for the console and the games he had brought. “There’s… Oh, I have a bunch of Mario games. My favourite’s Mario Kart, it’s just a racing game but with the Mario characters.” He explained, holding up the CD to show the doctor. “I used to play a lot of Lego games as well, like Lego Indiana Jones ‘n Lego Star Wars, but I completed those ages ago.”

”You must be a pro at these then.” Tony chuckled as he studied the colourful fronts and backs of the CDs. He had no idea how to play any of them, but he was never one to back away from a challenge. ”Could we maybe eat first? Before we start playing?” Tony suggested.

“Oh, shit, yeah! Sorry, I… I forgot you need to eat.” The boy laughed, standing up from where he was sat sprawled on the floor. He stood up on his tiptoes to stretch his legs, groaning quietly as he did so, and then looked at the man expectantly, like he was waiting for Tony to lead the way to the kitchen.

”You need to eat too.” Tony said with a sharp look before pulling Peter along, giving the top of his head a kiss. ”I hope you didn’t eat McDonalds today after seeing Strange.” He added before opening the fridge to check what their options were.

“Yeah, but you were the one at work all day, I’ve just been pulling apart your TV all afternoon.” Peter argued back, but couldn’t resist smiling when Tony kissed him. “And no, I didn’t. I went to the grocery store, got one of those salad and a drink deals for $3.” He said, hopping up on the counter to watch Tony cook. “Was work okay?”

Tony hummed as he glanced over the fridge, deciding that they would eat the leftovers today to not waste food. ”And did you eat all of it? And your meds?” Tony asked more out of habit and concern for the boy rather than as an attempt to make him submit. ”And work was okay. Had a meeting with Rhodes and Banner about a few patients and such and then briefed the nurses on the changes.”

“Yeah, yeah, I ate. Took my meds as well.” Peter nodded, drumming his hands against his thighs as he watched Tony take out some leftovers of the fridge. When Tony described his work day, Peter couldn’t help his eyes widening somewhat. That was the first time that the doctor had ever actually described what he did during the work day, and Peter realised that immediately. He felt warm and fuzzy on the inside, like Tony was finally appreciating him as an equal. “The nurses don’t miss me too much, do they? I know I was their favourite.” He joked, puffing his chest out and grinning.

”Good, good.” Tony smiled, pleased to hear that Peter was taking care of himself. He set the container on the counter before getting some plates as they could just heat it up in the microwave. At Peter's little joke, the doctor laughed. ”Rogers and Barnes did mention you the other day actually.”

Peter definitely couldn’t help the surprised look on his face when Tony mentioned Rogers and Barnes. “They… They did? I was just- just joking, I didn’t think they’d actually… remember me. What did they say?” He asked, trying not to sound too eager to hear what they said about him.

”They said they miss the times you’d play the hide and seek thing.” Tony explained, but did not say more as he really shouldn’t be talking about work like this. ”So, what do you want?” Tony asked instead, gesturing to the leftovers and letting Peter pick first.

“Oh, yeah, heh…” Peter huffed a laugh. “Hide ‘n seek master, I am.” He jabbed his thumb into the centre of his chest confidently, but then hopped off the counter and headed over to see what food was on offer. “Hm… Eeny, meeny, miny… that one.” He eventually tapped one of the containers, flashing a quick grin at the doctor.

”You feeling lil’ or what?” Tony asked with a smile, watching Peter hop around like a happy little rabbit. He got a plate for Peter before putting the leftovers on it, then popped it into the microwave.

Peter shrugged in response, but the grin on his face indicated he was. When Tony had his back turned to put the food in the microwave, Peter headed back into the living room to grab his stuffie, and then appeared in time to see Tony set the table. He sat on his usual stool with Spidey sat on his lap, his legs swinging as he watched the contents of the microwave spinning slowly.

”What you wanna drink then?” Tony asked, heading to the fridge and getting a beer for himself before turning to Peter. He smiled softly at seeing the boy with his stuffie and knew then that he was slipping into his littlespace.

“Juice! Please.” The boy said excitedly, adding the ‘please’ like he had forgotten it. He placed Spidey on the counter and began to turn him, mimic’ing the turning of the microwave, and giggled quietly to himself. He was excited about playing video games with the man, but knew they had to eat first, so he waited impatiently for the food to cook.

”Coming up.” Tony smiled, pouring Peter a glass of orange juice and then set it in front of him. The doctor wished he had some plastic cups instead to help Peter feel little for real. ”Is Spidey cooking too?” Tony asked with a laugh when he figured out what Peter was doing with his stuffie.

Peter stopped turning Spidey when the glass of juice was set in front of him. He immediately grabbed it, and with both hands wrapped around the glass, drank half of it in one go. He placed the glass back down and looked back at Tony, who was watching him. “No! Nuh uh, no cooking Spidey. He just likes spinnin’.” He explained, spinning the stuffie a few more times to demonstrate. “No eating Spidey.”

”Got it, mister.” Tony chuckled and went to open the microwave once it was done. He set the plate in front of Peter. ”Just wait a moment. I don’t want you burning your tongue, okay?” He added before getting his own plate in the microwave.

Peter was seconds away from diving in and eating, but the warning from Tony made him stop and lower his fork. “But… wanna play games!” He whined, looking to the door of the kitchen like the Wii was beckoning him. He pouted, his bottom lip shiny and red as it jutted out, but did not start eating.

”After we’ve eaten, we’ll play, okay?” Tony bargained and after considering Peter’s tone of voice quickly, he went ahead and grabbed the boy’s fork and a knife and cut up his food into bite sizes. The doctor smiled a little when Peter did not seem to protest the gesture, but instead seemed to like it. ”Give it just another minute and then you can eat.” Tony said once he finished cutting up the food and gave Peter’s temple a kiss before turning his attention to his own food that was still heating up.

Peter wanted to play games _now_ , but knew that there was no point arguing with the man. He tilted his head to one side in curiosity when he saw Tony reaching for his cutlery, but then smiled gently when he realised that the doctor was cutting up his food for him. He mumbled a quiet but genuine ‘Thank you’ when he was done, and scrunched his face up when Tony pressed a kiss to his temple. He continued to wait, albeit a little impatiently, and started to fiddle with Spidey once more.

Getting his own plate of food, Tony moved to sit opposite Peter and waited for his food to cool down too while sipping on his beer. ”You think Spidey wants a bite of your food? He must be hungry too. Or has he been hanging around and catching yummy flies in his webs all day?” Tony asked with a smile.

“He’ll be hungry. He hasn’t spun webs at _all_  today, he was helpin’ me at Doctor Strange’s!” Peter replied, pretending to feed the stuffie some of his cut up food. He ducked his head down to eat the bite instead, before loading more food up onto his fork. He put the fork down briefly to take another sip of orange juice, looking up at Tony over the rim of the glass.

”So, he’s been super busy, huh?” Tony asked, smiling at how cute Peter looked while little. ”What did he help you with?” He added before starting on his own food.

“He sat with me the whole session, ‘n he helped me build the Legos!” Peter chirped, offering another bite of food to Spidey but then eating it when he got no response. He swung his legs to and from the stool, his toes wiggling in excitement.

”That’s great. Seems like the session went well then.” Tony pointed out, guessing that since Peter seemed to be in such a good mood. Although there could be other reasons for it too. ”You got yourself a trustworthy friend there.”

Peter’s face fell the tiniest bit when he remembered what he and Strange had spent the session talking about, but quickly regained his smile when looking at Spidey. “Yeah! He’s a good friend. Ben chose well.” He said quietly, poking the stuffie with the back of his fork and squeaking when the stuffie then fell over.

Tony raised his brows just a bit when Peter mentioned his dead uncle. It had been so long since they had talked about him during their sessions at the facility. It seemed like forever ago that Peter had literally collapsed into tears at the mention of Ben. ”He really did.” Tony agreed with a smile, but did not ask further, just in case Peter was not comfortable talking more about him.

Peter slowed down his eating to look more closely at Spidey. His tufted fur was a bit scraggly in some places where Peter fiddled with it, but overall the stuffie was well loved. "Yeah... Ben was so cool. He was never scared of the bugs like May is. He knew I liked spiders, so he got me Spidey." He explained. "And now Spidey sleeps with me every night!" He said, flashing a grin at the doctor who was watching him. He didn't notice the odd, seemingly wistful look in Tony's eye as he spoke.

Tony was even more surprised when Peter continued to talk about Ben. But, he still tip toed around the subject carefully while they talked. ”When did he give you Spidey?” He asked, trying to look casual and continued eating his food.

“When I was…” Peter hummed, putting his fork down to count on his fingers. “S-Seven? No, eight!” He said, holding the fingers up in front of Tony’s face. “I was eight. Some people say that that’s too old for stuffies but… Spidey’s my best friend!” He said, taking the spider into his arms and patting it on the head. He picked up his fork again and continued to eat.

Tony smiled at Peter when he explained and nodded in agreement. ”Stuffies are really great friends and cuddlers. I think actually the world would be a better place if everyone had a stuffie, even though they are adults. What do you think?” He asked.

 “Yeah!” Peter nodded in agreement, bouncing where he sat. “Would that mean you’d get a stuffie too? Maybe it can be friends with Spidey!” He grinned, holding the stuffie up. “Spidey gives the best cuddles.” He said sagely.

”Everyone should have one, so yeah, that includes me.” Tony chuckled, mirroring some of Peter’s excitement. ”I know someone who gives better cuddles than Spidey though.” Tony said with a knowing look, letting Peter guess who before revealing it.

Peter hummed, looking from Spidey, to Tony, and then back to Spidey. “I dunno... Spidey’s pretty good... ‘n Spidey doesn’t tickle me when he cuddles me.” He said slowly, his eyes flashing with mischief as a grin crept up his face. His food was now finished, and he pushed the plate away from him so that he had space to put Spidey on the counter in front of him.

”Hmm.” Tony hummed with a little smirk. ”You give better cuddles than Spidey.” He revealed, waiting for Peter’s reaction.

 “Oh!” Peter’s eyes widened momentarily, and he looked up at Tony to see if he was bluffing. “Me? But Spidey’s got so many more legs, means he can give more hugs!” He said, wiggling the stuffie’s legs about to prove his point. He was beginning to blush though, the dusty pink colour travelling high up his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

”Yes, but you’re so much softer and warmer than Spidey.” Tony said before eating the last bit of his own food before coming up to Peter on the stool he was sat on. ”I like to cuddle little boys and you just happen to be my favourite little boy to cuddle.” He said while wrapping his arms around Peter, nosing his temple with a hum.

Peter squealed in delight as he was suddenly caught up in Tony’s arms, and craned his neck to look up at the doctor’s face. “Y-You like eating them too, wolfie...!” He joked, also wrapping his arms around Tony’s midriff and squeezing.

”Oh, just their fingers.” Tony laughed, squeezing Peter tighter in his embrace and leaning down to kiss his forehead. ”You’re such a perfect little boy, Peter.” He praised, lifting a hand to stroke at the boy’s curls.

Peter smiled back, ducking his head to nuzzle into Tony’s chest. “Can we play now?” He asked timidly, his voice slightly muffled with how his face was squished into Tony’s torso, but it was audible enough. He squirmed on the seat, feeling slightly ticklish from how Tony was carding his hand through his hair. “Pleeeeease?” He added for good measure.

”I said we’d play after eating, didn’t I?” Tony said with a smile, ruffling Peter’s curls before pulling back. ”Go get the game started and I’ll clean up here. Deal?” He asked, meeting the boy’s eyes.

 “Yessss!” Peter hissed in excitement, almost falling off the stool in his eagerness to head to the living room. He stuffed Spidey under his arm and disappeared into the front room, where he decided to put Mario Kart into the Wii. He spent a few minutes configuring the Wii remotes, but soon he had it up and running on the character selection screen.

While cleaning up the kitchen and setting the dishes in the dishwasher, Tony had a soft smile on his face. This all felt so domestic and cosy that he might just burst from happiness soon.


	71. 71

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tony opens up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me and raf wrote this ages ago and i didn't realise how much fuckin fluff we wrote, so this is a wham chapter to give you the last of it before we get back into the plot x

Heading into the living room, Tony saw that Peter had got the game ready. ”So, how does this work, Pete?” He started asking, looking at the TV screen that was filled with colour and movement.

Peter was nearly vibrating with excitement when Tony entered the room, and instantly got up and shoved the Wii remote into the doctor’s hand. “Look, look look look, so…” He pulled the man down next to him on the couch as he babbled. “You hold it like this, and then… well, you can either hold it like this, or you can use the nunchuk.” He explained. “And you gotta point  it at the screen to move the little hand around, and then this button selects stuff. You gotta pick your character to race as first.”

Tony took the remote into his hand and studied it for a moment, getting a good feel of it and trying to memorise the buttons. He highly doubted he had a shot at winning, considering this was his first time and that Peter was a pro, but he was more than happy to lose to see the boy grin in triumph.

Peter smiled as he watched Tony study the remote, giggling quietly at how intently the doctor was staring at the buttons. He had already picked his character, Yoshi, and so was waiting for Tony to pick his. When the man raised a slightly shaky hand and picked Bowser, Peter let out a low whistle. “Good choice.” He grinned, quickly choosing his kart and waiting for Tony to do the same. They both chose Automatic, and then the choice of maps came up. “Which one do you wanna do? We can do an easy one first, if you want.”

”You can decide, baby boy.” Tony smiled and nudged Peter’s arm with his elbow.

Peter let out a high pitched giggle when he was nudged, and in turn poked Tony in the side. “Okay, lets do… Mushroom Gorge!” He exclaimed, pressing on the map and watching it load up. “So, to make the kart go, you gotta hold this button, and then you turn the remote to steer. Oh, and they have special items you can use, you gotta press that button to use ‘em.” Peter explained, pointing out each button to Tony on his remote. “This map’s got some drops ‘n stuff, so you gotta watch out ‘n make sure you don’t fall off.”

”Okay, got it.” Tony said, even though he only caught half of what Peter was explaining. It didn’t matter either way though, because he was very much planning on letting Peter win. ”You excited?” Tony asked, turning to look at Peter who seemed to be vibrating with excitement.

Peter nodded, his face split into a wide grin as he glanced over at Tony then back at the screen. “Haven’t played this in ages.” He mumbled, watching as the screen split into two and the countdown began. Once the racing light on screen turned to green, both of the character sprites took off, though Peter’s kart was far quicker than Tony’s. Even as they made the first turn, Tony’s kart suddenly fell off the path and Peter couldn’t help snorting with laughter.

”Wait? What did I do?” Tony asked after a shriek when he saw how his kart came to a sudden stop. ”Did I lose?” He asked, looking at Peter and trying not to laugh too.

“You fell off the track! Look, see?” Peter giggled, pointing at the little turtle in the cloud that was dropping Tony’s character back onto the track. “Now you can go again, see?” He said, leaning over and pushing down the acceleration button on Tony’s remote so that the kart could move again. “Ah, no!!” He squealed when he realised that he was quickly being overtaken by some of the AI racers, and tried to refocus.

”Oh, oh!” Tony gasped as he tried to regain control of his kart and continue driving. Even if he wasn’t the best, he still had a lot of fun playing and listening to Peter’s squeals and laughter.

Usually Peter placed in 1st whenever he played Mario Kart, it was one of the things he was proud of, but he was currently in 6th and didn’t mind as they came up to the second lap. “Look, look, you have a special item! If you press that button, you’ll turn into a big bullet, look!” He said, pressing the man’s remote and then gesturing to the TV where Tony’s character had turned into a gianormous missile, and was auto-piloting some of the track for him. “But… hey, that means you’re in front of me now!” He laughed, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried to catch up.

”Woah, okay, okay.” Tony laughed, grinning widely as he seemed to get the hang of the game. ”Who’s the pro, hip teenager now?” He teased, nudging Peter with his elbow again while keeping his eyes fixed on the screen.

 “Stop saying hip, you sound so old!” Peter laughed, and let out a high pitched squeal when Tony nudged him with his elbow. “Hey, no fair, that’s cheating!” He glanced away from the TV to slap Tony playfully on the arm, but when he looked back he was now two places behind where he was. “What the-?! No way, I’m not losing to you!” He said, desperately trying to close the gap between them.

”I can cheat! This is my first time playing!” Tony argued with a laugh, but then turned his attention back to the screen. Still, he was a second too late as he crashed into something and spun off the road. ”Wait- no! Shit!” Tony laughed, watching Peter speed past him.

“Haha!” Peter crowed in triumph, watching as the little Bowser kart spun into the gorge and Peter’s Yoshi kart took over. “Eat my dust, Pervert!” His face split into a mischievous grin as he continued to climb the places, soon getting back to 4th. He thought he could see movement out of the corner of his eye from Tony, but didn’t pay it any mind as he tried to hold his place.

Tony completely gave up on trying to win now and dropped his remote before he got a brilliant idea. Climbing a bit on the sofa, Tony got closer to Peter and began kissing his temple, then his cheek and then his jaw.

Peter opened his mouth, and was about to say something about how Tony had stopped driving entirely, but all that came out was a broken gasp as the doctor’s lips started roaming down his face towards his neck. “N-No, st-stop!” He protested weakly, lifting one hand to try and push Tony away while the other tried to continue playing the game. “Y-You’re gonna make me lose!” He whined, tilting his head away from the doctor but exposing more of his neck and throat in the process.

With a little smirk, Tony grabbed Peter around his wrist, making it even harder for him to play, but also so that Tony could continue kissing him without being interrupted or pushed away. ”Lose, you say? Well, that’s too bad.” The doctor teased in a mutter before kissing under Peter’s jaw.

Peter whimpered when he felt Tony’s large hand wrap around his skinny wrist, realising he had no way to push the man off of him. He could barely concentrate on the game, clumsily trying to complete the lap while Tony began kissing his neck. “Pervert…” He tried again feebly, but it was no use as he could feel himself becoming hot under the collar, and his attention on the game slipping.

”That doesn’t work on me, baby boy. You gotta try something else.” Tony said huskily, using his other hand to get a hold of Peter’s jaw and tilting his head backwards to kiss at his neck.

Peter bit down on his lip hard, determined to not make any noise that showed Tony how much he was enjoying this. He tried his best to refocus on the game, but he was now in 10th place with no hope of catching up to the other karts. “O-Oh, so you _don’t_  like b-being called Pervert? I s-seem to remember you almost p-passing out from the bl-blood rush to your dick w-when I said it back a-at the facility.” He tried to tease, but his voice was faltering with each second.

Tony laughed at that and made the final push by using his body to slam Peter back on the sofa. He placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders to keep him down while towering over him. ” _I_ nearly passed out? What about you being a horny and stuttering mess after I spanked you over my knee?” Tony argued back, lowering himself to kiss Peter on his lips this time.

Peter yelped in surprise, and as his back hit the couch he dropped the Wii remote to the floor. The resounding clatter of the plastic against the hard-wood floor didn’t register in the boy’s ears as he was suddenly gazing up at the doctor, who was leaning over him with a suggestive grin. He opened his mouth to argue back but found his words stolen when Tony kissed him, and instantly one hand came up to grab Tony by his tie and pull him in as close as possible. “Daddy…!” He mewled gently, squirming on the couch unsubtly.

Peter’s little noises were like music to Tony’s ears and he tried to stop himself from grinning so that he could continue kissing the boy. ”That’s better. Say that again, baby boy?” Tony prompted, feeling a wave of love and possessiveness wash over him at hearing Peter call him by that title.

A hot flush began creeping up Peter’s neck and colouring his cheeks as Tony purred in his ear. The pet name made him squirm even more, and he tried to gasp for breath when Tony addressed him in such a low tone. He turned his head to one side when they broke apart from the kiss, his pupils blown wide but avoiding Tony’s gaze entirely like he was embarrassed. “D-Daddy...” he whimpered again, quieter this time, and it was like arousal flooded his veins for a moment.

”That’s right. And who’s Daddy’s good boy?” Tony teased even further with the music and sounds from the game still playing in the back. When Peter didn’t face him immediately, Tony grabbed his chin with two fingers and turned his head so that they had eye contact, waiting for an answer.

Peter thought he was about to die, both from arousal and mortification, but when Tony turned his chin forcefully to look at him, the boy had to force down a quiet sob. “I-I am...!” He admitted, noticing that Tony’s pupils were so wide that his eyes were just a small ring of brown around two large, black pools. He tried not to buck his hips upwards, but it was proving difficult.

”Good boy.” Tony praised and continued to hold Peter in place by holding his chin. He leaned down to kiss the boy’s soft lips again. ”Daddy was a bit mean just now, wasn’t he? Distracting you from the game and all?” Tony cooed with a smirk, chuckling lightly.

It was like Tony referring to himself as ‘Daddy’ was both an aphrodisiac and a fasttrack to getting Peter to regress, as he nodded with his eyes wide. “So mean, Daddy…” He whined gently, his eyes flicking to the TV where it was now showing the game’s option screen on repeat. “Like when Daddy’s mean…” He mumbled, his admission almost incomprehensible to Tony.

”You do? Well, that’s good to hear, because I like it too.” Tony chuckled, nosing Peter’s soft cheek before giving him a kiss. ”Should Daddy stop being mean or you want me to continue?”

“Stop, please, Daddy…” Peter answered quietly, squirming underneath him. “Feel funny…” He began crossing his legs, trying to will away the arousal that was pooling in his groin. At this point he was more embarrassed than he was aroused, and as his gaze fell back to the TV, he stuck his arm out to try and fish for the remote to turn the game off.

”Feel funny where? Come on, tell Daddy.” Tony prompted gently, sitting back so that he wasn’t towering over Peter anymore. He also pulled the boy up into a sitting position so that they were facing one another.

Peter didn’t say anything, simply allowed the man to pull him into an upright position. He pressed the heel of his palm against the bulge that was beginning to strain against his jeans, but he pressed like he was trying to get rid of it, not encourage it. He bit down on his bottom lip and his face flushed a pretty pink as he avoided Tony’s gaze.

”You want Daddy to help you out with that?” Tony asked kindly, but made no move to touch Peter unless he got his permission to do so.

Peter shook his head nervously. “Nuh uh… Don’t want it.” He said quietly, bringing his legs up to his chest to hide his erection from Tony’s view. He also turned on his butt so that he could lean over and rest his head on Tony’s thigh while hugging his legs to his chest.

”That’s okay, baby boy. Is there anything else you’d like Daddy to do?” Tony asked instead, lifting a hand to Peter’s curls to rub at his scalp.

Peter thought for a moment, and then slowly looked up at the doctor. “Cuddles?” He asked tentatively, though remained where he laid as to not dislodge Tony’s hand from where it scratched his scalp.

”Sure.” Tony said easily with a smile. ”Shall we go upstairs to my bed maybe? We’ll be much more comfy there.” He suggested, looking down at Peter while he kept stroking his hair.

“Mmhmm…” Peter hummed in agreement. He lifted his head off of Tony’s lap to grab the TV remote, and as he turned the TV off he searched for Spidey, who had ended up on the floor. He picked the stuffie up and looked at the doctor with a soft smile. “Daddy’s bed is super big… big ‘n soft.” He mumbled, reaching forward to take hold of Tony’s hand. He wasn’t sure whether Tony wanted to lead, so he tugged on the man’s hand to get him to stand up.

”Isn’t it?” Tony agreed with a smile, letting Peter lead him upstairs. But, Tony opened the door considering he had a free hand while Peter held his hand and his stuffie. ”Go on then, get all comfy while I change.” Tony said, leading Peter over to the bed before going to his closet to remove his tie and change into a more comfortable shirt.

Peter nodded, before turning to eye the bed. With a quick grin, he sprung onto it with a little squeal of excitement. He landed with a soft ‘oof’ on top of the covers, and started to scramble to get under them. He hid himself underneath them, like he was playing hide and seek again, but snuck to the edge of the mattress so he could peek out and see Tony changing his shirt. He giggled when he saw the man shirtless, and ducked back under the covers once Tony had turned around with a new shirt on.

”Are you still not done playing?” Tony asked with a chuckle, seeing Peter bounce and mess around on the bed. ”You’re being so silly today. What’s gotten into you, huh?” He added while climbing into the bed himself.

Peter’s head popped out from under the covers and he shrugged, a goofy grin on his face. In truth, he was just happy to spend time with the man, and didn’t hesitate to wriggle forward and latch onto Tony like a koala. He nuzzled his face into the man’s chest, smelling his cologne and fabric softener and black coffee, and sighed contentedly. “You like when ‘m silly.” He said finally.

”I do, I really do.” Tony sighed in content, wrapping his arms around Peter’s frame on reflex. ”And you’re a great cuddler.” He added, resting his head on top of the boy’s after giving his cheek a kiss.

Peter hummed. “Better than Spidey?” He asked, reaching back to pull the stuffie towards them. “Cos he’s pretty good.” He said, lifting the toy up to tickle Tony’s nose and laughing when the doctor batted him away.

Tony laughed and turned his head away, not wanting Spidey’s fur in his mouth. ”But, you’re much better.” Tony chuckled, squeezing Peter to his side and giving him another kiss.

Peter giggled, squeezing Tony’s midriff. One of his arms slowly unwrapped itself from around the doctor’s body, and his wiggling fingers tried to press themselves into Tony’s side to get him to laugh. When that didn’t work, they moved up towards his neck, but Peter frowned when Tony still wasn’t laughing. “How come you’re not ticklish?” He asked, pouting.

”I guess some people just aren’t.” Tony shrugged and laughed at Peter’s adorable face. ”But, you are ticklish, that I know.” He added with a smile and moved one hand to tickle at Peter’s ribs.

Peter continued to pout until Tony’s hand came forward to tickle his ribs, and then his face split into a wide smile. “No, Daddy!” He squealed with laughter, writhing under the covers as he tried to avoid Tony’s wiggling fingers. He launched himself forward to rest his weight on Tony’s chest and pin him down to the mattress, trying to push his arms down so that he couldn’t tickle the boy.

”Okay, okay, baby boy.” Tony said, looking up at Peter and not fighting back in the slightest. ”Daddy won’t be mean. We’ll just cuddle, yeah?” He said softly.

 “Mhm...” Peter nodded, squirming to get comfortable on the man’s torso. He bracketed Tony’s chest with his legs and leaned forward so that they were flush together, with Peter’s head pressed to just below Tony’s collarbones. His hands gripped lightly at the doctor’s t-shirt and he mewled once more in contentment, mumbling incoherent things under his breath.

”What’s that?” Tony asked quietly, lifting his arms up and rubbing his hands up and down Peter’s back.

Peter shivered when Tony’s hands ran up and down his back, feeling his fingertips against each bump of vertebrae. “Hm...?” He hummed, looking up at the Doctor with wide, childlike eyes, so wide that it was clear he had regressed. “‘s nuffin’... ‘s just Daddy... Daddy’s soft ‘n squishy ‘n... ‘n teddy...” he mumbled, breathing in more of the doctor’s cologne and sighing at how it seemed to soothe him.

Tony smiled widely at Peter’s innocent and happy expression. He lifted a hand to stroke at his curls. ”Yeah? You are all soft and squishy too, like a baby bear.” Tony murmured, squeezing the boy tight to himself. ”Little baby bear.” He added in another murmur and planted a kiss against Peter’s forehead.

 “‘m baby bear!” Peter chirped, grinning at the idea of it. “‘N then you’re Daddy bear...” He mumbled. He tried to growl like a bear, baring his teeth and scrunching his nose up, but his impression ended up dissolving into giggles. “Daddy’s baby bear.” He said, craning his head up for more kisses.

”Yes!” Tony laughed back, peppering Peter’s face with kisses. ”Daddy’s little baby bear.” He emphasised, squeezing Peter again before laying them both down so that they were comfortable. ”Does baby bear want a little lay down? You had quite a day today.” Tony cooed.

Peter squealed again when Tony planted kisses all over him, but let the doctor move him so that he was now also on the mattress and curled up comfortably. “Mhm… will Daddy sleep too?” He asked, shuffling under the covers so that only his eyes and the top of his head were visible.

”Yes, baby, I’ll be right here next to you.” Tony assured, wrapping his arm around Peter comfortably and placing his other hand on the boy’s stomach, rubbing soothingly. ”Go on, close those pretty eyes.” He prompted, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Peter giggled at first from Tony’s hand rubbing circles against his stomach, but soon realised that it wasn’t to tickle him and so settled down against the pillows. He grabbed Spidey and cuddled him close to his chest, while one hand lifted and settled dangerously close to his mouth, almost like he was sucking his thumb. “Daddy’s prettier…” was the last thing he said before closing his eyes and slowly drifting off.

”You’re the prettiest.” Tony said quietly, pressing another kiss to Peter’s forehead before laying back himself. He closed his eyes too, but kept his arm wrapped around his boy.

\---

Peter roused from his nap about an hour later, his hair stuck up in all directions and his eyes bleary as he looked around the room. The sun had set further through the window, and his gaze was drawn to Tony, who was still dozing. Peter couldn’t help staring at him in this light, he looked so handsome and it made Peter’s tummy burst into butterflies.

Tony had always been a light sleeper, but this time he felt himself sleep a bit heavier than usual and when he cracked his eyes open, he feared for a second that he had slept through the night. But, then he turned his head a bit and found Peter awake too and smiled tiredly. ”Hey, baby.” Tony greeted, his voice a little rough from sleep.

Tony’s baritone voice sent a shiver up Peter’s spine, and he smiled back as he wriggled closer to the man under the covers. “Hi, Daddy.” He said back, like it was the most natural thing in the world to him, like it felt right to say. One arm let go of Spidey to cling to the doctor’s waist, and he also threw his leg over Tony as well to cuddle him closer. “Good nap?”

”Amazing nap. What about you, baby boy?” Tony asked, turning a bit on his side to see Peter better. The boy’s hair looked like a mess and lifting one hand, the doctor tried to fix it, but with little luck.

Peter nodded dazedly in response, lazily smiling at Tony’s failed attempts to fix his bedhead. “Dreamt about you…” he murmured, shifting ever so slightly in bed and running his hand up Tony’s chest – not to arouse him, just because he wanted to.

”Did you?” Tony asked, feeling a bit flattered. ”Wanna tell me about it?” He added and continued to stroke Peter’s hair.

“Can’t… Can’t remember what it was about.” Peter mumbled, raising his hand to rub at his eyes. “Just know you were in it.” As he raised his hand, he accidentally knocked Spidey, and looking down at the stuffie reminded him of the conversation they had at dinner. “Daddy…? Remember when we were talkin’ bout stuffies earlier? Did… did you ever have a stuffie like Spidey?” He asked.

Tony laid back and stared up at the ceiling as he thought of his childhood. Most of it wasn’t very happy, but he did have a good amount of toys that he loved dearly. Still, he was not particularly fond of sharing such personal things, but he remembered what Peter had said. If they were going to be together, if they were going to be equals, then he would have to start sharing more of himself. ”Not like Spidey, no, but I did have some stuffies. My most important one was just a regular teddy bear.” He started, smiling softly at the memories of his old toy.

Peter let out a soft gasp at that. “A teddy? Did they have a name? Were they all soft like Spidey is?” He asked, looking up at the doctor with wide eyes even though Tony wasn’t currently looking at him. “Soft stuffies are the best ones.” He added, shrugging one shoulder like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

”You’re right there.” Tony agreed with a nod. ”No, Teddy wasn’t as soft as Spidey, but he was still my best friend for a long time.” He explained with a soft smile on his face still.

Peter nodded intently, still looking up at Tony. He had never seen the man look so… nostalgic before, and the smile made Peter smile in turn. “Did you just have Teddy, or did you have other toys too? Cos I have Legos ‘n stuff, ‘s not just Spidey.” He explained.

”I had a lot of legos too, actually. I would spend hours and hours building with them.” Tony chuckled lightly as he tried to remember more of his childhood games. ”My favourite thing to build were spaceships.” He recalled while looking at the ceiling.

 “Huh...” Peter hummed, closing his eyes so that he could focus on Tony’s low, soft voice. “Did you play with... with brothers or sisters?” He asked quietly. Tony had never mentioned siblings, but then again he hadn’t mentioned anything about his childhood. Peter didn’t mind, though, as he rested his head against the man’s shoulder.

”No, I was an only child.” Tony said, trying not to sound sad when he said that. He had always wanted an older brother. ”So, I played by myself or with my friends. Or with Jarvis.” He said quietly, lifting a hand up to stroke at Peter’s curls as they lay cuddled up together.

 “Only child, like me...!” Peter replied. When Tony mentioned a name, Peter’s eyebrows furrowed momentarily. “Jarvis?” He asked softly. His entire body felt like it was melting into the mattress at how soothing Tony’s hand in his hair felt, fingertips grazing his scalp.

”Yeah, yeah, just like you.” Tony chuckled, but his expression fell just a bit when Peter asked more about Jarvis. He didn’t even realise he had brought it up. ”Uhm, Jarvis was a- well a friend of the family, I guess. He took care of me a lot when I was younger.”

 “Huh...” Peter hummed. He could hear a slight tingle of sadness in the man’s voice, and so moved to hug him even closer. “Was he nice to Daddy?” He asked, opening his eyes and sneaking a glance at Tony’s face. Tony still had that nostalgic look on his face, but not the smile from before.

When Peter wrapped himself tighter around Tony, the older man did the same and wrapped both his arms around the boy’s middle. Tony rarely ever talked about his personal life, and for good reason, but now he felt oddly comfortable and safe with Peter, even though the boy was still regressed. ”He was, he really was. He was more of a father to me than my actual father.” Tony chuckled a little bitterly now.

Peter’s face turned into a frown, and he leaned up to press a gentle kiss against Tony’s cheek. He didn’t say anything more for the time being, knowing from Tony’s tone of voice and slightly pained expression that this was something he felt uncomfortable talking about. Instead, he continued to pepper kisses along the side of Tony’s face, all while squeezing him tightly.

Tony could sense that Peter was growing uneasy now and suddenly regretted ever bringing up his childhood. ”I’m sorry about all that, didn’t mean to upset you, baby boy.” He said quietly, turning his head just a bit to catch Peter’s lips in a kiss.

“You didn’t upset me, Daddy. Just didn’t know whether you… whether you wanted to keep talking about it, that’s all.” Peter mumbled in response once they had pulled away from the kiss. In that moment, he knew what he wanted to say, but the thought of it scared him and so he kept his mouth shut. “Jarvis sounds cool…” He said quietly.

”Yeah, yeah.” Tony said quietly, gazing at Peter softly. ”He was really cool.” He said before pulling Peter close again as talking so much about his childhood had him quite exhausted mentally.

Peter smiled when he was tugged closer to Tony’s chest, and wrapped his arms and legs around him like a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree. “Daddy’s cooler though. The coolest.” He said, fiddling with the fabric of Tony’s t-shirt between his fingers. “Daddy ‘n his baby bear…” He added in a singsong voice under his breath, and lifted his hands to squish the man’s cheeks together.

Tony snorted when his cheeks were pushed together, but did not shake his head free and let Peter continue his little game instead. ”Daddy and his baby bear.” He repeated, although his voice was slightly muffled.

“Baby bear’s gonna get ‘cha!” Peter giggled, leaning up to kiss the doctor’s lips even though his mouth was being squished by Peter’s hands. He let go of Tony’s face after he kissed him in favour of touching his beard, and laughing when Tony simply raised an eyebrow at him for it. He suddenly seemed to realise something, and furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. “Wouldn’t you be Daddy Wolf, not Daddy Bear? You’re always wolfie!” Peter said.

Tony chuckled at Peter’s whole act and quickly forgot about the old hurt from his childhood. ”Hmm, that’s a good point, but isn’t Wolfie a bit mean? I think Papa bear is much nicer to have around, you know?” Tony argued and grabbed Peter by his hips to guide him up into a position where the boy’s is sat on his stomach and they have full eye contact.

Peter moved his legs to bracket Tony’s hips when he sat on his stomach, and rested his hands right in the crest of his torso. “Yeah! ‘n Wolfie always tries to eat me... Daddy bear doesn’t wanna eat me, he just wants cuddles!” He said, drumming his fingertips against the man’s chest. He paused for a moment, and then reached behind him to grab the covers and pull them over his shoulders like a cape. “I like both though.” He shrugged, smiling widely.

”Hmm, both have their benefits, but I like cuddles the most.” Tony said, wrapping his hands around Peter’s wrists and looking up at him with a soft smile.

Peter placed his hands back on Tony’s chest just in time for the doctor to take grip of his wrists, and he made a little show of pretending to struggle against it, but ultimately failing. “Papa bear’s super cuddly! All big ‘n soft, perfect.” He said, suddenly leaning forward so that his head was now tucked under Tony’s chin, and he was lying flat against the man’s chest.

”Hmm, so are you, baby.” Tony murmured with a smile, moving his hands to stroke at the boy’s back and curls before sighing in content.

After a few minutes, Peter shuffled back a bit so that he could lift his head and start planting kisses to Tony’s neck and underside of his jaw. He added little bites here and there, and mewled quietly at how Tony’s large hands stroked his back softly. “Daddy... want kisses...” he murmured against the man’s skin, nuzzling close to him.

”Hmm?” Tony hummed with a smile, lifting his hands to rub at Peter’s shoulders. ”Feeling kissy?” He teased before kissing the boy’s forehead and cheeks.

Peter laughed softly as Tony kissed him on his face, the coarse beard hair of the man’s goatee rubbing against his soft skin. “Lips, Daddy...!” He whined, tilting the man’s head down a bit so that he could kiss him on the lips properly. His eyes fluttered shut and his body relaxed as they fell into a slow rhythm of kissing, Peter’s small hands coming up to grip handfuls of the doctor’s hair.

”Sorry, baby.” Tony murmured against Peter’s lips before kissing him again. ”Guess Wolfie came out for a second.” He chuckled before continuing with the kiss.


	72. 72

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> may's discharged from hospital.

When Sunday rolled around, Peter was nervous and excited at the same time. He had gone back to his apartment on Saturday evening so that it looked like the apartment had been lived in for the last week. Before he left Tony’s, though, he had been given advice on how to approach discussing school with his aunt, and the doctor had given him his phone number with the agreement that Peter could then come to the doctor’s house whenever he wanted. Peter didn’t want to seem desperate by immediately texting it when he got back to the apartment, but the temptation was there. On Sunday, he headed to the hospital to help May with being discharged, and was directed by the helpful receptionist to his aunt’s hospital room.

May was itching to get home by now after being bedridden for over five days and hospitalised for seven. Her doctor had allowed her to get up and walk a bit on day six, but only for a short while. She quickly tired of course, but still it was good to feel a bit like herself again. But, nothing could make her feel more like herself than going home. A nurse had informed her that her nephew would be coming and so she waited in her bed, but in an upright sitting position this time.

Peter knocked on the room door before slowly pushing it open and peeking in. He saw May sitting upright and slightly impatient, and his face split into a wide grin. “May!” He said happily, leaving the door open behind him as he came further into the room. “How’re you feeling, you okay?” He asked, bending down slightly to gently hug her shoulders.

”Peter, hi!” May practically squealed back, grinning widely at the sight of her nephew and opened her arms wide for a hug. ”I’m okay, I’m okay.” She smiled. ”Just anxious to go home.” She whined, and squeezed Peter a little before letting him go.

Peter nodded. “I get that. That’s kinda how I felt at the facility.” He said, looking around the room. It hadn’t changed much since he was last here, and he could see why May was anxious to leave. It was pretty boring. “I brought you a bag with some clothes ‘n other stuff in it, I figured you wouldn’t wanna leave here in a hospital gown.” He snorted, placing his rucksack on the foot end of the bed and carefully taking out the folded clothes he had packed for her.

”Aw, thanks, baby.” May smiled, relieved that Peter had been smart about the whole discharging situation and the fact that the clothes May wore when she was attacked had been destroyed. ”So, how have you been?” May started as she carefully got out of bed.

Peter grinned in response, and took a small step back to give May room to get up. He hovered nearby, though, in case she needed help getting up or if she slipped. “I’ve been okay. I saw Ned ‘n MJ on Thursday, and then Strange on Friday.” He recounted, pushing the clothes closer to her and then turning around so that she could get dressed.

”So, you haven’t been rotting at home in front of your computer.” May teased, elbowing Peter lightly on her way as she slowly walked to the end of the bed to grab her clothes before making her way to the bathroom.

“Nooooo, Maaaaaay…” Peter drawled in response. “Not even out of the hospital and you’re already nagging me!” He laughed, moving to sit on the bed while he waited for his aunt to get dressed. “I snuck you some chocolate in my bag!” He called out, remembering how May had said how boring the hospital food was. “It’s the dark chocolate with orange, you like that one right?”

May was about to tease Peter some more, but then gasped audibly from behind the bathroom door that she had left half ajar so that they could talk while also giving her privacy to change. ”Yes, it’s my favourite! You’re an angel sent from heaven, Peter.” May laughed as she got out of the hospital gown and into her own clothes.

“Yes! I knew it was, I dunno why I doubted myself.” Peter crowed with triumph, grabbing his bag and reaching into it to pull out the bar of chocolate. “Once you’re done changing ‘n stuff, I’ll give you the goods.” He said, laughing to himself. It felt like a drug deal, and he made an exaggerated show of acting shifty with the chocolate bar hidden under his jacket when May came out of the bathroom.

”Hand it over or I’ll fight you.” May threatened with a laugh, shutting the bathroom door after herself and walked up to the bed. ”I survived this, so I will have that chocolate.” She added, still laughing a bit despite the seriousness of the stabbing.

Peter grinned, unwrapping the chocolate from its wrapper before handing it over easily. He shifted along the bed so that May had space to sit, dragging the rucksack onto his lap. “Good to see this place hasn’t bored you to death.” He said, swinging his legs off the side of the bed as he watched May almost inhale the chocolate.

”Well just half dead.” May joked back before stuffing more chocolate into her mouth. She could cry with happiness right there, but she pulled herself together and passed the chocolate over to Peter, offering him some while she sucked her fingers clean from where the chocolate had melted a bit.

“Awh, thanks.” Peter mumbled, taking a square of chocolate. He wasn’t a particularly big fan of dark chocolate, he found it too bitter, but the orange helped sweeten it somewhat so he was fine with it. He eventually passed the bar back, and looked around the room once more. “Was there anything else you kept in here, or are we good to go once we’re done eating?”

”Oh, lets just go already. There’s nothing here as I barely had anything on me when I came.” May said, but did reach for the blanket Peter had brought and folded it before placing it in the bag. She tried to lift it, but then winced in pain when she strained her bruised abdominal muscles.

“Woah, woah woah woah! Steady with the heavy lifting, May!” Peter said, rushing to get the bag from her. It didn’t really weigh that much, at least not to Peter, but he didn’t like the look of how May reacted to trying to pick it up. “I’ve got it, it’s alright.” He slung the bag over one shoulder and instead went to hold May’s hand, offering her a reassuring smile. “Do you want to go slowly? I don’t wanna rush you walking.”

”Yeah, yeah. Lets take it slow.” May said and forced on a smile despite the pain. She took some deep breaths, like her own doctor had told her to and she herself had told to her own patients numerous times. ”Do you know the saying?” May asked as they slowly made their way out of the room and into the hall.

Peter took one last glance around the room to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything before they left, and held onto May tightly so that she didn’t stumble as they slowly made their way towards the elevator. “Slow ‘n steady wins the race, right?” Peter said, smiling softly. “I mean, it makes sense, but what I don’t get is why the hare chose to take a nap in the middle of the race. Surely if he was so close to winning, he could’a just finished the race and _then_  taken the nap?” He rambled.

”Baby, not that one.” May chuckled at how quickly Peter always started rambling with just one or two words to go on. ”I meant the one that says doctors, or nurses in my case, make the worst patients.” She explained and pressed the button to call the elevator once they reached it.

“Oh! No, I don’t know that one.” Peter said, blushing brightly at how his motormouth had taken over without thinking. “Is that cos you guys are just trying to heal yourselves rather than let other people do it? I can see why that would get annoying.” He said. Once the elevator door opened, he pressed his hand to the door to hold it open while the two of them shuffled into the elevator, and then pressed the button to take them to the reception.

”I’m not entirely sure where it actually came from, but I guess that could be an explanation. Maybe we are too used to caring for others that we can’t care for ourselves.” May pondered aloud as they traveled down. She felt more alert and alive already and they hadn’t even left the hospital yet.

“Huh…” Peter hummed, his mind racing with the comparisons to Tony. It was obvious that Tony much preferred talking about other people, caring for other people than for himself, but it was kind of soothing that May noted it was a  common thing among health practictioners. That meant that it wasn’t specifically directed at him, and Peter suddenly felt a little bit of weight come off of his shoulders as they entered the reception. “Do you want me to go ‘n speak to the receptionist for you?”

”No need, I did all the paperwork before you came so it’s okay.” May assured with a smile. ”Lets just go home.” She added, eyeing the exit just across the reception.

“Okay, cool.” Peter nodded. At that exact moment, he got a notification on his phone, and pulling it out he saw that the Uber he ordered was ready outside. He didn’t want May to have to get the bus while in her weakened state, and so he guided her outside and into the backseat of the Uber. From there the car journey was quiet but not uncomfortable, and soon they were back at the apartment. They clambered out the car, Peter thanking the driver, and headed into the apartment building slowly with Peter still holding May’s hand.

May was almost grinning like an idiot by the time they reached their apartment door. She couldn’t be happier to be home and waited impatiently as Peter got his key out and unlocked the door. As soon as the door was open, May headed inside and went right for the sofa, collapsing onto it with a sigh. ”Ahh, so this is what it feels like.” She said, laying her head back on the sofa.

Peter snorted at May’s reaction to being home. He stayed standing, though, moving to her room to unpack the stuff he had in his backpack, such as her blanket. While he was in there, he sent a quick text to Tony telling him that they had gotten back home safely, and then returned to the living room. “Want me to order food in tonight?” He asked, standing a little awkwardly by the couch like he wasn’t sure what to do next.

”Oh, my God, yes!” May groaned out, lifting her feet onto the coffee table. ”Get Thai, please?”

“Sure. Want me to get some palm leaves to fan you with, while I’m at it? Maybe some fresh grapes?” Peter asked, teasing at how May seemed to be stretched out like an Egyptian pharaoh across the living room. He headed to the kitchen where the Thai restaurant’s number was stuck on a sticky note to the fridge, and dialled the number. He made the order and then put the phone down. “It’ll be here in 45 minutes.”

May laughed tiredly at that and nodded her head, waving her hand to gesture that she would very much like that. ”Okay, okay, for real though. Just come sit with me, baby.” May prompted, patting the space next to her on the sofa.

Peter grinned and let himself flop onto the sofa, making a soft ‘oof’ sound when his stomach hit the couch cushions. He shuffled so that his head was in May’s lap and his legs were stretched out over the arm of the couch and dangling off the edge. “How do you feel?” He asked quietly, looking up at her upside down.

”Just really happy to be home is all.” May sighed, lifting a hand to place on Peter’s head, but too tired to actually stroke his hair. ”Yeah, just really happy to be home.” She added, closing her eyes for a moment. ”Have you been taking care around here then? I hope you’ve been cooking here and not getting McDonalds everyday.”

“Not _every_  day…” Peter mumbled. “I’ve been cooking, you know, easy stuff like pasta ‘n sauce. Nothing too special.” He said, also closing his eyes. He didn’t mind that May wasn’t stroking his hair, he was just happy for the contact comfort of having her with him again. “How long are you off work, do you know?”

”A whole month actually.” May groaned out. ”Far too long in my mind, but Maria actually threatened with kicking me out if I show up before my sick leave is up.” She chuckled a little. ”I’m gonna be so bored, but you’ll keep me company, right? I’ll let you out to see Strange and your friends, but besides that I want you here, watching cheesy rom-coms with me and eating chocolate.” She smiled, patting Peter’s head.

Peter winced at that. He could feel himself getting more nervous by the second, but shoved that feeling down before he spoke. “Actually, May, uhm... While you were at the hospital, I went... went to speak to the principal about my absences.” He said, his hands becoming sweaty even despite his efforts to pat them dry on his jeans. “H-He said I was welcome back the week after next. It would’ve been sooner, but I said I wanted to spend time with you and help you recover before I went back.” He said quickly, before his aunt had a chance to fully react.

”You did what? But, I thought we agreed that you should take the year off and focus on your recovery. Then, you can start again next year.” May argued, although they technically had never actually come to an agreement on the matter.

Peter shook his head. “We never agreed on anything. It... You didn’t tell me about the extrenuating circumstances but, and then I tried to... to argue with you about it but it was late in the day so we didn’t really... didn’t really talk. And then you got... got attacked. I-I decided I wanted to continue with the school year, c-cos I thought that it would help me integrate back into normal society better.” He explained, still trying to rub his sweaty palms against his trousers.

May huffed a little as she considered what Peter was saying. ”But, what if it stresses you out? What if it makes you worse?” She asked, even though she knew that Peter had always been good with school and all.

 “Then I’ll tell you, and we can work something out. I just... I really wanna go back, May. I’ve still got that note from Stark so that my teachers understand what’s going on, and if it gets too much I promise I’ll tell you. You just gotta trust me with this. Please?” At this point Peter was now sat up and facing May properly, his hands on his thighs nervously.

"You promise you'll tell me?" May asked, just to be sure and raised her head to look back at Peter. "You also gotta promise me to talk to Strange about it too and get him to write you a note too if Stark's isn't enough." She added a little sternly.

“Pinky promise.” Peter said immediately, bringing forward his hand with his pinky finger extended for May to shake. “I know you think I should spend more time recovering, but to me this _is_  recovering, you know? And plus I miss seeing my friends every day, they’re good distractions!” He smiled nervously, searching May’s face for any signs of doubt.

Even though May was sceptical, she extended her hand to make the pinky promise with Peter. ”I guess. I just think that recovering for you is that you start taking better care of yourself. I fear that school will distract you from that.” She explained.

“But maybe going to school will help give me direction, you know? Like, I’ll start taking better care of myself because I want to do well in school, and that’s like… that’s something I can work on at home.” Peter said, trying to hide the excited grin on his face when May linked her finger with his. “I promise I’ll keep getting better, May. If it doesn’t work, you’ll be the first to know.”

”That’s good, baby.” May smiled, not entirely happy with the situation, but she does not have the energy to keep arguing. ”Can we watch a movie or something now? I’m getting tired.” She said, pulling an apologetic face.

“Yeah, sure, what do you want to watch? The rom-com can be as cheesy as you want, seeing as you’re in recovery mode.” Peter smiled, going to the TV and crouching down to see their DVD collection. He held out a few options, before putting the CD of ‘Love, Actually’ despite Peter’s complaints that “it’s not even Christmas!”. He headed back to sit next to May on the couch and rested his head gently against her shoulder, smiling to himself at the thought of returning to school.


	73. 73

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things take a turn.

A few days later, Peter was stood on Tony’s doorstep. He had told May that he was going to Ned’s for the afternoon, but quickly changed his route the second he knew that he was out of sight of the apartment block. He knocked a few times on the door, and rocked back and forth on his toes as he waited. He technically had a spare key, but he was nervous about just randomly walking into the man’s house.

As Tony walked to open his front door, he did a little guessing game. Stephen sometimes dropped by, so that could be him, but then Tony remembered that he had told Peter to come over whenever. Peter hadn’t come over since leaving, but Tony wasn’t worried. The boy had to care for his recovering aunt after all. Finally reaching the door, Tony swung it open and smiled as soon as his eyes landed on Peter. ”Hi.” He said a little dumbly, gazing at the boy lovingly.

“Hey!” Peter grinned, his eyes lighting up when Tony answered the door. “Told May I’d be going to Ned’s today, but I thought I’d come to see you instead.” He said, licking his lips nervously and glancing around. “You… gonna let me in, or do I have to do a little song and dance for you?” He joked, waiting for Tony to step aside so that he could enter the house.

”As much as I’d love to see that, I’ll spare you the trouble.” Tony laughed and opened the door wider to let Peter in. ”So, lying to your aunt and sneaking off to see your boyfriend, huh?” Tony teased, not thinking much of the title until he saw how Peter reacted to it.

Peter’s brain almost logged off when he heard Tony refer to himself as his boyfriend. It made butterflies explode in his stomach, and he couldn’t help the grin that was beginning to spread across his face as he entered the house. “I know, total high-school move, right? Next thing you know, we’ll be making out under the bleachers by the football field.” He said back, turning to face the man once he shut the front door. “I’m a rebel, what can I say?”

”You couldn’t be a bad boy even if you tried.” Tony chuckled, cupping both of Peter’s cheek before pulling him into a deep kiss. Pulling back for air, Tony wrapped his arms around the boy in a hug. ”Missed you...” He said softly.

Peter opened his mouth to argue, but didn’t get a word out before Tony was kissing him. He sighed contentedly and pressed himself as close to the doctor as possible, and gladly returned the hug when they broke apart for air. “Missed you more, Pervert. How was work?” He asked, stepping back from the hug and taking him by the hand to pull him into the kitchen.

”We discharged a patient the other day, so that was nice, but also a bit sad, you know?” Tony said, following Peter into the kitchen. ”We did the whole goodbye thing just like we did to you.” He added.

“Oh, yeah! God, that seems like ages ago. Did the patient have to deal with cracked ribs from being hugged by Thor?” Peter joked, hopping up on his usual kitchen stool and swivelling on it a couple of times.

”Did you?” Tony joked back, laughing as Peter spun around on the stool. ”Well, I hope not, but we both know how Thor is. He’s like a bear.”

 “He really is. I think he squeezed all the air outta my lungs when he hugged me.” Peter said, bracing his hands on the counter to come to a stop. “I, uh, I told May about school.” He said, looking over at Tony to see his reaction.

”And what did she say?” Tony asked, sitting next to Peter so that they could see one another.

Peter shrugged. “She wasn’t particularly happy with it, but she’s not gonna stop me from going, so I guess I’m taking that as a win.” He smiled weakly, reaching forward to take hold of Tony’s hands. He liked how big they were in comparison to his own, and made him feel safer, especially when little. “I’m gonna be starting next week.”

”That’s great!” Tony smiled, taking both of Peter’s hands in his and squeezing. ”I’m so proud of you, Peter. You finally stood your ground and made your own decision.”

Peter smiled a little more broadly at the praise, and leaned forward to place a quick peck on the man’s cheek. “Thanks for helping me with it. ’m just excited to see my friends again more than anything. And to get my place back on the decathlon team. Flash can suck it.” He said, scrunching his nose up at the thought of Flash Thompson.

”Ahh, I’m so happy for you.” Tony beamed, cupping Peter’s cheeks again and squishing his face. ”I really think going back to school will be good for you.” He added with a smile before letting Peter’s face go.

Peter let out a little squeal when Tony squished his face, and lifted his hands to do the same back. When he had Tony’s cheeks pushed forward, he leaned forward and kissed him again, but this time got up to sit in the man’s lap astride his legs. He let go of the man’s face but continued to kiss him, until he pulled back for air.

Tony let out a little yelp of surprise, but then sighed in content when Peter kissed him. When the boy climbed onto his lap, the doctor wrapped his arms around him to keep him in place. ”Hi, there.” He greeted again, beaming at the boy a little dumbly again, but he could hardly help it. They were close enough again that Tony could see the yellow spots in Peter’s eyes again.

 “Hi.” Peter grinned in response, shifting his weight on the man’s lap so that he was sitting more comfortably. “So... boyfriend, huh?” He said, tilting his head to one side. He didn’t seem offended by the title, if anything he was struggling to keep the smile off of his face. “You know, that’s pretty presumptuous of you. What if I said no?” He teased, giggling lightly.

”I mean- if you don’t want to then, of course not.” Tony explained hastily, but then saw the grin on Peter’ face. ”But... It seems like you like it.” He pointed out with a smile, nosing at Peter’s cheek before catching his lips in a quick peck of a kiss.

 “Of course I do, you dummy.” Peter snorted once they had pulled away from the kiss. “Next you’ll be tryin’ to say that I don’t wanna call you Daddy anymore.” He huffed, leaning forward to press kisses to Tony’s neck. “And we know that’s not true.” He murmured against the man’s neck, smiling gently.

”Hmm.” Tony hummed with a smirk, moving his hands up and down Peter’s back. ”Just needed to be sure, baby boy.” He murmured.

Peter whimpered and his hips shifted rather unsubtly at Tony’s purring voice. He continued to press kisses to the man’s neck and slowly slid his hands up to feel Tony’s hair, tugging on it gently so that Tony would tilt his head and expose more of his neck. “You’re too hot. It’s not fair.” He said decidedly, pulling away from him for a moment to look at the man’s face. “Has anyone told you that? You’re too attractive. It’s too much. You need to stop.”

”Some have told me that, yes.” Tony chuckled, letting Peter tilt his head back as he continued to rub the boy’s back. He couldn’t deny that he was a bit of a womaniser when he was young and had girls, and boys alike, running after him. ”But, so are you, baby boy. You’re so pretty and soft and warm.” Tony purred. ”You’re beautiful.”

Peter made a whining noise at that, and brought his hand up to press at Tony’s face to get him to shut up. “Nuh uh. Stop, you’re making me blush.” He said, flattening his hand out against Tony’s face like a face-hugging octopus. He dropped his hand after a few seconds and leaned forward to press another kiss to Tony’s neck. “Did a lot of people tell you that?” He asked, resting his head against Tony’s shoulder finally.

”Yeah, a few people in school and such, but that’s like ages ago now.” Tony chuckled, kissing Peter’s temple once he put his head down on his shoulder.

 “Aaaages ago.” Peter drawled, giggling to himself. After a moment of thinking, he spoke again. “I’m trying to imagine what you would’ve been like in school, but... I’m stuck between you being a total bad boy or a complete nerd. You became a _doctor_ , so I’m guessing nerd?” He said, watching Tony’s face.

”And why can’t one be both?” Tony asked with a smirk, placing his hands on Peter’s hips and rubbing his thumbs over the bone. ”But, I guess I leaned more over on the nerd side of the spectrum.” He shrugged a little.

 “Both, like me?” Peter asked lightly, and then dissolved into giggles at the look that Tony gave him. “You would’ve been a hot nerd. Did you wear glasses ‘n stuff? You would look hot in glasses.” Peter said, but realised he was rambling and so shut his mouth in embarrassment. “You’d look hot in anything.” He said quietly, lifting his hand to trail a fingertip down Tony’s jaw.

”Same goes for you, darling.” Tony purred back, smiling at how Peter was rambling freely. He took it as a sign that the boy was comfortable enough to share all his thoughts. ”And no, I didn’t wear glasses, but we all wore them when we did autopsies of the brain.”

Peter’s eyes widened at that. “You guys did _autopsies_? That’s so cool! That’s so cool...” He repeated under his breath. “The most we’ve done in school is dissect a lambs heart, and that was super gross. My friend stuck his thumb into the aorta and lifted it off the tray by his thumb, and it was so funny.” Peter snorted, remembering at how the boy in question almost got a detention for it.

”Oh, we didn’t do hearts, but we did cut up brains twice, yeah. It was part of med school.” Tony explained, smiling at Peter’s enthusiasm. ”We were all a little freaked out because we had just started the studies.” He added, remembering quite vividly how heavy the brain felt in his hand.

 “Gross.” Peter said, scrunching his face up in disgust at the thought of cutting up brains. “I don’t really like that stuff, too much blood ‘n squishy stuff for my liking.” He said, pressing the tip of his finger into Tony’s cheek.

”Hmm, one in my class actually vomited and then quit the next day even though our professors assured us that we were not going to see more blood and gore like that. We were becoming psychiatrists, not surgeons after all.” Tony chuckled before snapping his jaws at the finger on his cheek like he was a shark.

Peter stuck his tongue out in disgust at the sound of someone vomiting, and then squeaked and withdrew his hand when Tony tried to bite down on his finger. “Wolfie, no!” He grinned, poking the man’s face again to try and playfully agitate him. “Big Bad Wolf...” he mumbled, pressing his fingertips to the man’s lips.

”Big Bad Wolf eats pretty, little fingers...” Tony drawled before snapping his jaws again, grinning when Peter pulled his hand back. ”Can I have some, please? I’m so hungry...” He added with a moan.

Peter loved this game. He pulled his hand back at the very last second to watch Tony chomp down on thin air, before quickly sliding off of his lap and taking a step back. “Maybe, but only if the Wolf can catch me first...!” He called, his eyes glinting with mischief and a dare for Tony to get up and chase him. He took slow steps backwards towards the hallway, glancing behind him every so often but otherwise keeping his gaze on his boyfriend.

”Oh, but Wolfie’s an old one now. He can’t chase little boys forever.” Tony groaned out with a laugh, slipping down from his stool too and following Peter, but at a slower pace.

Peter laughed at that and continued to head out of the kitchen and into the living room, where he collapsed onto the couch on his back. “Oh, no! I’m cornered!” He lamented in a high pitched voice, but laughed when he saw Tony’s amused but unimpressed look.

With a tired laugh, Tony headed to the sofa too and flopped down next to Peter, cuddling up to him and closing his eyes with a sigh. ”Sometimes I just wanna quit my job so bad.” He mumbled into the sofa.

Peter shuffled up the sofa to make space for the doctor, giggling at how his face was squished against the pillows and his hair fanned out in odd directions. He placed a hand in the man’s hair and gently began stroking his fingertips back and forth, like Tony always did for him. “Why? I thought you loved your job, it’s all you care about.” The boy said softly. He didn’t sound bitter at the last sentence, just curious.

”Yeah, yeah...” Tony huffed as he got into a more comfortable position before relaxing. He smiled gently at how nice Peter’s fingers felt in his hair. ”It’s just really exhausting sometimes. Certain patients take a lot of time and energy, you know.”

 “Yeah, I can imagine...” Peter hummed, scratching his fingertips against Tony’s scalp. “Did you feel the same about me? When we first met?” He asked nervously, remembering how he had been a total pain in the ass and non-cooperative. He wondered when Tony started developing feelings for him, how far along in the time he spent there.

Tony chuckled a bit when he remembered how troublesome Peter had been when they first met. It felt like ages ago, but he remembered it very well still. ”You were a bit of a pain in the ass, not gonna lie.” He started with a little smile. ”But, I found you really interesting and I was excited to work on your case.” He admitted, opening his eyes just a bit to see Peter.

 “Me? Interesting? I barely spoke to you!” Peter said, looking down to see Tony gazing up at him. “I _refused_  to speak to you, how was that interesting in the slightest?” He asked, moving his hands away from Tony’s hair to rest them on his cheeks and pat them lightly.

”I had notes from your other therapists and I was curious to know what you were refusing to tell me.” Tony explained with a little shrug. ”And you were pretty and you still are.” He added with a smirk.

Peter blushed brightly at that, raising his hands up to cover his own face instead of Tony’s. “Shu’up!” He whined, peeking through his fingers. “Did… Did you really think that? Did you always… always like me?” He asked.

”I- I think I did, yeah.” Tony grinned, grabbing Peter’s wrists and pulling his hands back to plant a kiss to his nose. ”I had my eye on you since the first time I saw you, and not just professionally.” He chuckled.

“Huh… I, uhm, I didn’t always like you.” Peter admitted, still blushing. “I thought you were… arrogant, ‘n annoying. But then one day I think me ‘n Bucky were going to the kitchen to make a sandwich, and you walked past. I-I dunno what changed but… I wanted you to stay.” He said, trying to force down the nervous smile on his face.

”I figured.” Tony chuckled. ”But, most patients struggle with settling in and such. I am more than used to being hated.” He explained before his facial expression became softer. ”What changed?”

Peter couldn’t help wincing a little bit at the thought of Tony being hated, and thought about his answer for a moment. “I dunno. You just… Lo used to tell me that the doctors there were just paid to care, but… you seemed different. You made me repeat myself sometimes but you never talked to me like I was stupid. I dunno. I trusted you.”

”Hmm, that's good, though. I mean, I do think I did a good job helping you get better.” Tony said with a smile, stroking Peter's hair back from where it was falling into his eyes. He wanted to see those yellow spots again.

Peter hummed in consideration. “Maybe I was right about you being a little arrogant.” He teased, his face splitting into a cheeky grin as he leaned forward to kiss Tony’s cheek, and then his lips. “You’re right, you did. ‘m grateful, Pervert.” He mumbled, pausing for a moment before kissing him again.

Tony was about to protest, but Peter cut him off with the kisses. ”You did most of the work though, I just helped you along. And made you take some pills to calm things up there.” He added, tapping Peter’s forehead.

Peter shrugged at that, quickly catching Tony’s hand when it pulled away from tapping his forehead. He dragged it towards his mouth and opened his jaw wide to act like he was about to bite the man’s fingers. “Who’s eating who now?” He joked, placing the doctor’s fingertips between his lips and nibbling on them playfully.

Tony chuckled and pressed the pad of his fingertip to Peter’s bottom lip, rubbing gently. ”Little baby wolf is learning.” He joked.

Peter jutted his bottom lip out when Tony pressed his fingertip to his lip. “I thought I was baby _bear_! Can’t be both, Daddy.” He huffed, rolling his eyes as if it were obvious. “Bears bite too though, heh...” He grinned, grabbing onto Tony’s wrist and pretending to nibble at it like he did with the man’s fingers.

”Okay, okay. Baby bear.” Tony said with a smile, letting Peter nibble at his skin. It felt odd, but kind of nice at the same time. ”You hungry, baby bear? When’s the last time you ate?” He asked.

 “Uhm...” Peter pulled Tony’s hand away from his mouth, trying to remember his last meal. “Lunch...? I think? Yeah, lunch. Had a sandwich.” He said, fiddling with Tony’s fingers. “I could eat.” He shrugged, flattening out Tony’s hand and pressing his own up against it to compare the sizes of their hands.

”Then let’s make something together. Have you made home made pizza before?” Tony asked, pressing his hand against Peter’s before intertwining their fingers and gazing up at the boy lovingly.

\---

Peter didn’t go back to Tony’s house until a week later. He had gone back to school by that point, and had already been given a test in APUSH much to his annoyance. He had texted Tony every so often throughout the week, letting him know how he was doing, but due to the busy day he had that day, he didn’t talk to the man at all. That didn’t stop him from going to Tony’s house in the evening though, using his spare key to unlock the front door and push it wide open. They had had a discussion about it, and Peter was welcome to use the key any time he liked.

“Hey, guess who aced that APUSH test! Flash was makin’ fun of me the _whole_  week, but then I beat his ass at it, so now who’s laughing.” Peter laughed as he entered the house, dropping his backpack on the floor and heading to the living room.

He swung open the living room door, and his blood turned cold as he saw someone he recognised sat on the couch in front of him, someone with piercing blue eyes and a perfectly trimmed goatee.

Strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	74. 74

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> strange discovers the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yell at us on tumblr  
> rafni: https://professional-benaddict.tumblr.com/  
> richie: https://sunflowerstarker.tumblr.com/

”Jesus- no, no, no. No, please, God, no. _Peter_...” Tony cursed, then begged under his breath. He was in the kitchen when he heard Peter enter, fixing Stephen and himself a glass of wine each. Stephen had decided to drop by on a short notice and Tony was more than happy to see him and catch up with his old friend, despite their professional rivalry. Now however, he wished he had never let Stephen in. ”I-” Tony said, coming into the living room and seeing that Stephen has risen from his seat on the sofa and was now looking between Peter and himself. Jesus Christ, what were they going to do?

It felt like Peter’s head was spinning as he stared at Strange, who was now standing staring at him with an odd look on his face. His legs began to shake and he had to grab the doorknob of the living room door to steady himself, gripping it tightly to the point where his knuckles were turning white. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, but Peter couldn’t find the words to speak. It was like somebody had paralysed him, and he was more terrified in that precise moment that he had been in years. When Tony came in, Peter looked to him with eyes full of fear, silently begging for him to say something.

”Tony, why is a former patient of yours waltzing into your living room like he lives here?” Stephen asked first, breaking the tense silence in the space. Stephen had of course heard everything and there was no denying how familiar and domestic the whole situation looked. Tony was about to answer, but then he saw the state that Peter was in and walked over to him swiftly. ”Tony!” Stephen protested, but Tony did not care much as he cupped Peter’s cheeks.

”Peter, you okay?” He asked gently.

Peter had looked over at Strange when he began to speak, but then his gaze was wrenched back to Tony when his face was cradled in the man’s hands. “I- You- He- I didn’t m-mean to-“ He began to breathe quicker, his eyes flickering between Tony and Strange intermittently. He was trembling, and had no doubt that Tony could feel that by holding his face. “He’s- I- He’s gonna-“ He stammered, having no clue what he himself was saying.

”It’s okay, it’s okay.” Tony cooed, but kept himself from kissing Peter in front of Stephen as that would be really damning evidence of their relationship.

”Tony, what the hell are you doing? What are you doing with _my_  patient?” Stephen asked again and yanked Tony back from Peter.

Peter flinched hard when Tony was pulled away from him, and he was left staring at the furious face of Doctor Strange. He gulped hard, his entire body still trembling with nerves. “I-It was my idea!” He blurted out, before Tony could say anything. “I-It was my idea, I’m... Y-You know I l-like him, and... and I d-didn’t want to let him go after I left.” Peter stammered, determinedly not looking in Tony’s direction, but rather facing and putting all of his energy into addressing Strange. “I-I’m not his patient. I- We-“ He couldn’t say it, but he continued to look Strange dead in the face.

”Jesus, Stephen, he’s just a kid.” Tony said, turning on his heel and standing in between Peter and Stephen so that he was facing the latter.

”Precisely.” Stephen shot back. ”This violates every guideline possible! Laws, Tony! You could end up in _jail_!” He argued and Tony hardened his facial expression. He wasn’t going to let go of Peter.

”Not if you keep your mouth shut.” Tony threatened to which Stephen responded with a sigh before stepping to the side so that he could see Peter.

”Peter, what’s going on here?” Stephen asked, his voice a bit more gentle now. ”What are you doing here? Do you have a key to Tony’s house?”

Peter bit down hard on his bottom lip. He hated seeing Tony so angry, and for him to be arguing with his friend like this. When Strange addressed him, he figured that he would tell the truth. “I- I have a key, yes. He said I can come round whenever I want. I want to be here.” He said, cracking his knuckles nervously as he spoke. “I-I want to be here, with him.”

Tony felt his heart clench in his chest at what Peter was saying.

”Is this your first time being here?” Stephen asked further, but Tony cut him off again.

“Stop, you have no right to question him like that.” Tony argued.

”Well, perhaps you’d like to explain then. What is Peter doing here? What is your relation to one another? Besides former doctor and patient?” Stephen asked, glaring at Tony as he spoke.

Peter huffed a breath out through his nose, and finally the dam broke. “H-He was taking care of me! When… When May went to the hospital, he t-took care of me cos I was alone and I didn’t have anyone else. A-And then we- I told him I l-liked him, and…” He trailed off, losing steam for a moment. “He- He’s my… my…” Peter couldn’t even say the word, it caught itself on the tip of his tongue and refused to budge.

”Boyfriend?” Stephen supplied and then pulled a face in disbelief as he turned to Tony. ”Boyfriend?! You’re in a relationship with a former patient?” Stephen asked and Tony swallowed thickly.

If only sweet, little Peter could have kept his pretty mouth shut, but Tony guessed that Stephen would have got it out of them either way. ”Stop shouting, you sound like a child, Steph!” Tony said with a raised voice, causing his coworker to shake his head. ”

"Oh, no, no, no. You don’t get to call me that, not anymore.” Stephen shot back.

The high tensions in the room, combined with Peter’s highly-strung emotional state at that very moment, was a recipe for disaster. The boy could feel tears stinging his eyes, and his hands began to shake violently as the two men shouted at one another. He couldn’t take it, and his grasp on his aged-up headspace began to dissolve like he was holding sand. “D-Daddy…!” He choked out in a sob, but soon realised what he had said and slapped his hands over his mouth. It was no use, though, as he felt himself getting littler and littler by the second with no way of stopping it.

Both of the doctors stopped their shouting match when Peter cried out and turned to face the boy. While Stephen was almost mildly disgusted by the outcry, Tony sprang forward and took Peter into his arms. ”Hey, hey, it’s all right, Petey baby. Just slip down, it’s okay.” He encouraged gently, not wanting Peter to fight back the regression. Stephen took a step back as he realised what was happening. He was still very much upset over the situation and Tony’s actions, but there was a child present with them now and if they all didn’t calm down soon then they might do some real damage to the boy.

In his regressed state, Peter couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He pressed his face into the crook of Tony’s neck, his shoulders shaking with sobs as his headspace fell further and further. “’m sorry, ‘m sorry…! ‘s my fault!” He gasped. Despite Tony easily wrapping his arms around him, Peter barely had the strength to lift his arms, and so was left standing stock still while he cried into Tony’s shoulder.

”No, no, baby.” Tony cooed, not caring about the pet names anymore. ”It’s not your fault, you’re okay. Daddy’s got you.” He added, shooting Stephen a look to say ’look what you did’. Stephen just narrowed his eyes back at Tony in a glare, but did not say anything and let the other doctor comfort the crying boy.

“’s my fault!” Peter repeated, shaking his head against Tony’s shoulder. He finally lifted his arms to grab hold of the doctor’s shirt, and he gripped it tightly to ground himself as he cried. “D-Daddy’s mad, ‘n… ‘n St-Strange… g-g-gonna hate me!” He wept, his face becoming red and blotchy with tear tracks down his cheeks and his hair messing itself up from how he plastered himself against Tony’s body.

”Daddy’s not mad, baby boy, I promise you that.” Tony assured, stroking Peter’s hair and rubbing his back with his hands. ”This isn’t your fault. It’s mine, Peter.” He added in a lower voice, only for Peter to hear. As for the claim about Strange hating him, Tony couldn’t say anything about that. Tony knew that the other doctor was mad at him most of all.

Peter shook his head fervently, not believing Tony in the slightest. “I-It was me, Daddy... I-I sh-shouldn’t have come.” He mumbled, finally moving away from the doctor and squirming where he stood with his head ducked. He was entirely avoiding acknowledging Strange’s presence, his eyes downcast and his hands fumbling in front of him. He didn’t know what to say any more.

”No, no, no. It was my fault. I told you to come whenever and I was dumb enough to let him in without letting you know to stay away. This is all my fault.” Tony stressed, trying to keep his voice down so that Stephen couldn’t hear him even though he probably could.

Deciding that he had seen and heard enough, Stephen cleared his throat before heading to the door. ”I think I should go, and so should you, Peter.”

Peter was still crying, and when Strange started walking towards him to get to the door, he flinched and scurried out of the way. He felt like his entire world was crashing around him, and he couldn’t even begin to wonder what Tony was feeling about it. When Strange spoke to him, he didn’t even look in the doctor’s direction and kept his gaze fixed on the floor like he was praying for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

”That’s such bullshit and you know it, Strange.” Tony snapped, causing Stephen to halt in his tracks. ”Peter’s in no fit state to go home now. He’s regressed, he needs me.” Tony explained, putting on a gentler tone as he lifted a hand to stroke at the boy’s cheek which was wet with tears.

”He shouldn’t be here.” Stephen argued, not turning to face his coworker. ”He should go home and then tell the authorities about you.”

Peter flinched again when he felt a hand cup his face, but even knowing it was Tony’s didn’t make him feel any better. He continued to stare at the floor while bile crept up his throat and tears blurred his vision. “N-No, don’t... don’t w-w-wanna...” he babbled under his breath, though each word out of his mouth made him feel like he was going to be sick without warning.

”He’s staying here.” Tony said finally, not leaving any room for debate with his tone.

”You’re just making things worse for yourself, Tony.” Stephen pointed out after a sigh.

”I don’t give a shit. He needs me and he’s staying.” Tony said again, pulling Peter back into his embrace to protect him from Stephen.

Peter whimpered, turning his head to bury his face back into the crook of Tony’s neck. Hearing Tony and Strange’s raised voices only made him regress further out of panic, and he gripped onto the man’s shirt tighter out of fear. “Don’t go, don’t go…” He mumbled nonsensically.

”I won’t, baby, I won’t. Stephen’s gonna leave now so we can have some nice peace and quiet around here, yeah?” Tony suggested, but the hint towards Stephen was obvious. The other doctor scoffed before straightening up. It looked like he was about to say something, but then he shut his mouth and headed to the door without saying anything. Once Tony heard the door open and slam shut again, he kissed Peter’s temple. ”There, there, it’s okay. It’s just you and me now.” He assured the boy, squeezing him in his arms gently.

When Peter heard the front door slam shut, he flinched hard once more and an anguished sob spilled from his lips. He had been crying quietly the entire time, but now that it was just him and Tony he suddenly allowed his sobs to become more vocal, almost to the point of bawling. “H-He’s g-g-gonna t-take… t-take Daddy away!” He cried, gripping Tony’s shirt tightly with both hands. “D-Don’t want Daddy t-to go!”

”Hey, hey, baby. Look at me.” Tony instructed, cupping Peter’s cheeks and lifting his head so that they had full eye contact. ”It will all be okay. Daddy’s not going anywhere and neither are you. Okay?” He asked, forcing a smile despite the awful feeling in his stomach that was spreading dread into his veins. He had no idea what Stephen was going to do after what he had seen. Tony could be so fucked, but he had to protect Peter. ”It’s okay.”

Peter didn’t particularly want to look at Tony right now, knowing that he probably looked a mess, but his eyes went up to the doctor’s face anyway. He could see that the man was smiling, but there was evident nervousness behind his eyes, and that made Peter feel worse. He didn’t say anything in response, just looked at Tony with wide, bloodshot, fearful eyes and his bottom lip trembling violently.

”Oh, baby boy.” Tony cooed, pulling Peter to his chest again. ”It’s okay, it’s okay.” He repeated as he stroked the boy’s hair. ”It’s okay.” And he kept repeating that phrase over and over, not just to comfort Peter, but himself as well because he was thoroughly fucked.


	75. 75

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yell at us on tumblr:  
> rafni: https://professional-benaddict.tumblr.com  
> richie: https://sunflowerstarker.tumblr.com

The next day, Peter went to school. He had absolutely no interest in going whatsoever, his head still swimming with thoughts about what had happened the previous evening. He had no idea what it meant for him and Tony, and he prayed that Strange had enough sense to keep his mouth shut. As he walked through the gates, he was immediately hounded by Ned and MJ, and they were in good enough moods that Peter felt mildly distracted from the swirling feeling of terror in his gut as they headed to their first class.

As he took his seat in AP Chemistry, he tried his best to ignore the constant gnawing feeling of anxiety, one that seemed to be chipping away at him the entire time he was sat in his seat. He couldn’t get the look of fury that had been on Strange’s face out of his mind, and he sincerely began to worry that the doctor now hated him for going behind his back like that. Peter was brought out of his odd stupor by Ned clicking his fingers in front of his face, and sighed to himself as he turned his attention back to the enthalpy calculations they were working on together.

Chemistry was then followed by English Literature, a boring subject (in Peter’s opinion) made even worse by the fact that neither Ned or MJ were in his class for that subject. That meant he had absolutely nothing to distract him properly from his own head, aside from the mindless droning of the teacher at the front of the room. As he rested his chin in his hands and gazed out of the window, his imagination went crazy envisioning all the possible ways that this situation could get worse. A big part of his fear was May. Christ, if May found out…

After another mind-numbingly boring class, it was lunch. Peter got his tray of food and quickly spotted Ned and MJ, who were sat at their usual table at the back of the canteen. He headed over to them, where he could hear an argument developing about the use of metal straws. He rolled his eyes and sat down next to MJ, who was in the middle of passionately explaining why all climate change prevention efforts had to stem from the 1%, and poked sullenly at his food while they talked.

“What’s gotten into you, Peter? You’re all mopey ‘n stuff.” Ned asked, cutting off MJ’s rant. She looked annoyed, but soon noticed that Peter was unhappy and so let the issue slide.

“‘m fine. It’s nothing, alright?” Peter grumbled, not looking up from his food.

Ned and MJ both looked unconvinced at that. “Come on, Peter, that’s such bullshit. You haven’t looked this upset in school since Mr. Harrison confiscated your Star Wars laser pointer.” MJ butted in, and Peter rolled his eyes at that particular memory.

“I’m still mad about that. It was limited edition and it looked like Luke’s lightsaber.” He mumbled, stabbing through his potato with his fork. He was about to speak again, but a sudden shadow over the table cut him off.

“Jeez, Parker, who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?” Peter took a deep breath before looking up at Flash Thompson, his eyes narrowed.

 “You better be careful, Penis. If you look any more depressed, they might cart you back off to the loony bin and lock you up for good.” Flash snickered, his face contorted in a vile grin as he stared down at Peter.

“Leave me alone, Flash, I don’t need this from you right now.” Peter grumbled in reply, only looking at the boy for a second longer before glancing over at Ned and MJ, who both had looks of worry and anger on their faces.

“Awh, come on, Parker! What happened to the fight in you from a few weeks ago? I have to say, I wasn’t expecting it but it made the conversation so much more interesting.” Flash jeered, punching Peter in the arm.

 “Don’t fucking touch me!” Peter hissed, jerking his arm away from Flash when he swung at it. “I told you, I’m not in the mood to deal with your _shit_.” He snapped, which only served to make the smile on Flash’s face wider.

“Better be careful, Penis. Don’t they say that lashing out at people is a sign of psychosis? They might have a use for that strait jacket after all if you try and cause a fight in here.” He drawled, looking around the canteen where a few people were now staring at them. Peter was becoming more and more embarrassed and angry by the second, his hand holding the fork shaking as he tried to push down the urge to punch Flash in the throat.

“Just fuck off, Flash, you’re bringing down the IQ of the room.” MJ said scathingly, moving seats so that she was now sat on the other side of Peter and thus separating him from the other boy.

Peter had had enough. He stood up from the table and stormed out of the canteen, ignoring Flash’s yelling voice after him. He could also hear MJ throwing insults in Flash’s direction, which he was grateful for. His own heartbeat was pounding in his ears as he made his way to the nearest bathroom, and slammed the cubicle door behind him. He sat on the closed toilet seat and let out a shaky exhale, leaning forward to place his head in his hands.

“Peter?” A quiet voice could be heard on the other side, and he slowly opened the cubicle door to see Ned standing there, looking at him concernedly.

Peter tried to offer a wobbly smile, but even that was too difficult. He simply took a step back and let Ned come into the cubicle, which forced them into close quarters with each other but neither of them cared.

“What the hell is going on, Pete? I’ve never seen you yell at Flash like that.” Ned asked, and Peter sat back down on the closed toilet seat.

“I- It- I’m just stressed, okay? W-With what happened to May, ‘n... ‘n I got into an argument with my psychiatrist the other day, and it’s just left me... I don’t know.” He stammered, carding his hands through his hair and tugging at it lightly.

 “An argument? What happened?” Ned replied.

 “I-It’s a long story, I don’t wanna go into it right now.” Peter mumbled, running his hand through his hair one more time before looking up at Ned. He hadn’t realised that he had been crying until Ned showed a mild look of surprise at his face, and Peter hurriedly rubbed his hands across his face to try and get rid of the tears that had blotted his cheeks. “I’ll be fine, Ned. Flash being a prick just... got too much today. I’ll live.” He mumbled, hauling himself off the toilet and waiting for Ned to unlock the cubicle door. They left the bathroom together just in time for the bell to ring, and so they headed to their next class while animatedly insulting Flash under their breaths.

\---

Tony hoped that it was all a bad dream, but the panic that he still felt when he woke up told him that this was very much real. Stephen had seen him and Peter the day before and they were all so fucked. Still, Tony plastered on a smile despite it all, for Peter’s sake, and headed to work like normal. However, once he got there he felt so dumb for even thinking this would be another day at work when he saw Pepper and Strange waiting by the entrance.

”Tony, in my office if you’d be so kind.” Pepper prompted, turning on her heel to head inside. Stephen gave Tony his most disappointed look ever as he passed him.

”But, I have a session with Keener in a bit.” Tony tried, following Pepper inside.

”Rhodey’s taking care of him.” Pepper answered simply as she walked swiftly.

Tony gulped a bit as he tried to keep up. ”What? Rhodey’s stealing my patients?”

”Well, technically you don’t have any patients anymore. At least till we figure out what’s going on.” She said and Tony _knew_  he was screwed.

They got to Pepper’s office and both Stephen and Pepper moved to sit, but Tony remained standing. ”What’s he doing here? Bruce got sick again?” Tony asked with a chuckle, but the two others did not seem amused at all.

”Just sit down, Tony.” Pepper instructed, gesturing to a seat across from her.

”No, not until you tell me what this is all about.” Tony demanded with a shake of his head.

”Just sit down, dammit! You know what this is about.” Stephen accused with a raised voice. So, it seemed Tony’s old friend hadn’t kept his mouth shut at all.

Tony sat, but he wasn’t happy about it and folded his arms and leaned back, trying to appear unbothered despite the feeling of ants crawling under his skin. That’s how nervous he was.

”Stephen told me that he saw something when he was at your place yesterday.” Pepper started.

”Just say it as it is, Tony had a former patient of his and my current patient in his home!” Stephen said.

”Well, I’m giving him a chance to explain himself.” Pepper replied before turning to Tony, expecting an explanation and for a moment, Tony blanked out completely, looking like a fish on dry land as he opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Well, Peter had already told the truth to Stephen the day before, so Tony saw little point in lying. The boy was hardly capable of lying, so that meant Tony couldn’t either. However, he could twist the truth a bit. ”Yes, Peter Parker came to my home after I took care of him when his aunt was hospitalised after a stabbing. I took care of him for a week or so, and that’s all.” Tony said, but Stephen was not impressed and scoffed, but Pepper seemed sympathetic.

”And Parker didn’t have anyone else? He was all alone while his aunt was in hospital?” She asked and Tony nodded.

”He didn’t have no one and if you just glance over his file, you’ll know he is in no state to take care of himself alone, let alone under such stress from his aunt nearly dying.” Tony explained and felt some hope when Pepper nodded as she considered.

”I admire your dedication to care for your patient, Tony, I do.” Pepper started, but Tony feels the ‘but’ part coming. ”But, that was outside of work, so it wasn’t your task to take care of him.”

”The kid needs an adult! I told you already he had no one!” Tony argued, getting worked up now that he sensed that both Pepper and Stephen were against him and refused to consider his perspective.

”Parker isn’t a kid, he’s nearly 19 and can take care of himself.” Pepper argued back, causing Tony to scoff.

 ”I know Parker better than either of you.” Tony stated, but Pepper did not look entirely convinced and turned to Stephen.

”Do you think Peter can take care of himself, Doctor Strange?” Pepper asked. Well fuck, Tony thought to himself and gulped.

”Based on having him under my care for over a month, I would say so. He doesn’t seem as troubled as when I first saw him and he seems overall well-kept. Showers, clean clothes, eats well and takes his medication.” Stephen listed, shooting Tony a look as he spoke. ”And his motivation to take care of himself has shifted from doing it for the people he cares about and more for his own sake, which I think is a major progress.” Tony had wanted to punch Stephen many times in his life, and did actually do it once, but now the urge was more overwhelming than ever.

”That’s utter bullshit.” Tony spat, causing Pepper to raise her hand to calm the situation before punches were actually thrown.

”Okay, it seems like we have a professional disagreement.” Pepper pointed out.

”No, he’s just wrong. He doesn’t know Peter at all.” Tony scoffed.

”Well, you seem to know him _too_  well.” Stephen shot back and Tony could hardly deny it and changed the argument instead.

”Peter’s only as good as Stephen says because _I_  helped him when he needed someone. His aunt nearly died for fucks sake.” Tony argued.

”But, you shouldn’t have helped him, Tony. You know what our guidelines say about working outside of work and interacting with patients. It is strictly forbidden.” Pepper reminded and Stephen nodded along.

”So, what was I supposed to do? Just leave him to fend for himself?” Tony asked, throwing his hands in the air.

”Yes.” Pepper said simply, with no remorse whatsoever. Tony sat back in his seat with a sigh and shook his head softly.

Tony was about to argue further, but then there was a knock at the door. Pepper called out to let the people knocking enter and two police officers entered. Tony turned around to look and felt his stomach drop at the realisation.

He turned to Pepper and Stephen in disbelief. ”You called them on me.” Tony said a little shakily. ”You called them before I came. You never wanted to hear my side of the story.” Tony said and Pepper lowered her gaze. Stephen, on the other hand, kept his head high and eyes on Tony.

”You did this to yourself, Tony.” He said simply before looking at the officers.

”So, which of you is Doctor Anthony Stark?” One of the officers asked and Tony slumped in his seat while both Stephen and Pepper gestured to him. ”Doctor Stark, if you’d stand up, please.” The officer instructed and reached for the handcuffs on his belt.

With nowhere to run, Tony had no choice but to stand up and let the police officers take him away. The only thing he could do was keep his mouth shut and not make things worse for himself. So, he stood up and let the officer wrap the cold cuffs around his wrists, clicking them locked. ”Anthony Stark, you are under arrest.” And there it was. Tony did not pay much mind as his rights were listed to him and instead glared at Stephen and Pepper. He felt so betrayed that he practically vibrated with anger.

”Officers, could you wait a second?” Pepper asked rising from her seat. The officers haulted, but the one who cuffed Tony still kept a grip on his upper arm. ”Just tell the truth, Tony.” Pepper sighed a little, giving her employee a smile, but Tony just shook his head with a smile, although it wasn’t a happy one.

 ”I already did. I helped him and you better treat him well till I get back, Strange.” Tony snarled before the officers dragged him out of the office and escorted him out to the police car.

Stephen and Pepper remained in her office for a while longer, processing what had just happened. ”I know you guys have your differences and your rivalry is like famous around here, but do you really think he broke the law?” Pepper asked.

”Pep, he absolutely broke the law and as much as it breaks my heart, he needs to pay for what he did.” Stephen replied, although Pepper wasn’t entirely convinced and left the meeting table to head to her desk.

”Just take care of the Parker kid, Strange. Thank you for coming and telling me about this.” She said, forcing a smile before turning her attention to the papers on her file.

 ”Sure thing.” Stephen smiled a little and headed out quietly.

 As Stephen headed out of the facility and to his car, he saw the police car still parked by the entrance. He caught a glimpse of Tony in the backseat, looking as miserable as ever.

For a second, Stephen felt bad for ratting out his coworker, his research partner, his friend and former lover. But, then he remembered what Tony had done and headed to his own car while the police drove off towards the station. Stephen had patients to take care of at his practice and headed the opposite way to his clinic.

\---

By the end of the day, Peter was exhausted. He got the train home from school in a daze, his earphones shoved in his ears and his eyes glazed over as his mind raced with thoughts about what happened yesterday. The police car parked on their street didn’t ring many alarm bells when he saw it, though. It was New York, police was everywhere. When he got to the apartment, however, that was when he got worried. He opened his door to see May and a police officer sat on the sofa, and both stood up when Peter entered the living room. “Wh-What’s going on?” He asked, dropping his school bag by the door. Both adults had a grim look on his face, and then the police officer spoke.

“Your former doctor, Anthony Stark, has been arrested for professional misconduct and knowingly coercing at least one vulnerable patient under his care. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

 And that was all Peter heard before his vision blacked out and he hit the floor.


	76. 76

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter gets questioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was rly great to see so many responses to our last chapter, some of which helped us bring up an important point: yes, it may not be "realistic" for this situation to occur. however, both myself and rafni thought that this would be the best route for the fic to take in order for there to be a satisfying ending, and to give you that ending we may have to stretch the limits of what is "believable" and what isn't. besides, this is an AU of a universe where the original characters have superpowers, so i think we should be allowed a little bit of leeway in regards to what makes sense and what doesn't.
> 
> we're really glad that you guys are enjoying the fic tho, and we hope that you enjoy these next few chapters just as much x

When Peter came to a few minutes later, he was lying on the sofa with May and the police officer looking down at him. Shit, so this wasn’t a nightmare. Or maybe it was, Peter couldn’t tell. “Wh-What’s happened?” He asked the officer, his head spinning slightly as he tried to sit up as best as he could on the sofa.

”You passed out, baby, just take it easy for a while.” May said gently, pushing Peter to lay back on the sofa, at least for a few more minutes.

 ”Shall I fetch a glass of water?” The officer offered kindly and May nodded with a smile.

”Are you okay? How are you feeling?” May asked, feeling her nephew’s pulse on his wrist.

Peter made a whining noise of complaint, but May’s hand was firm and so he had no choice but to lean back against the couch again. “I’m- I- What did h-he say about Doctor Stark?” He asked, ignoring the question about his own wellbeing entirely. This couldn’t be happening, Strange wouldn’t rat Tony out like that when they were such close friends, would he? The police officer returned with a glass of water but Peter barely touched it. He wanted to know what was going on.

May bit her lip when Peter asked about Stark and decided not to answer, leaving that up to the officer who had arrived just before Peter had, so May didn’t know much either. ”Okay, sit up then and have some water.” May prompted, helping Peter up despite the pain she felt in her abdomen. The officer stayed out of the way for now and moved to sit opposite the sofa to wait till Peter was back with all his senses.

Peter shifted to sit up on the couch, taking the glass of water in both hands and sipping it a few times before placing it on the coffee table in front of him. “What happened to Stark?” He asked again, louder this time and to the officer who was now sat opposite him. His fists were clenched, fingernails digging into his palms and his hands shaking slightly.

Since Peter seemed more or less alert, the police officer decided to answer, but he would take it easy considering the boy had fainted when he first heard the news. ”Stark is at the station at the moment. He is under arrest for allegations of professional misconduct, so that is why I am here to talk to you, Peter.” May moved so that she was sat right next to her nephew and placed her arm around his shoulders.

 “P-Professional misconduct? What does that mean?” Peter asked, but he knew what it meant. With a track record like Tony’s, it could only mean one thing. He immediately felt nauseous, the thought that _he_  was the one that got Tony arrested already beginning to fester in his head. May’s tight arm around his shoulder didn’t make him feel any better, if anything it made him feel worse knowing that she would have to hear all of this.

”It means that a professional has broken guidelines and laws concerning patient care. The allegations come from Doctor Stephen Strange as he claims he saw you in Stark’s home at 8 pm yesterday. Where were you 8 pm yesterday?” The officer asked.

Bastard. Peter decided then and there that Stephen Strange was every bit a prick that Loki had made him out to be, and he made a quick mental note to find another psychiatrist as quickly as possible. He avoided May’s gaze entirely and took a deep breath. “I-I was at Stark’s house, he’s right.” He said, squaring his shoulders.

”And why where you there?” The officer asked further, getting a little notepad from his jacket and clicked the pen against it before he began scribbling things down.

 “Because I wanted to be there.” He answered, his eyes following the movement of the police officer’s pen against the paper. He still refused to look in May’s direction, terrified by the thought of her reaction to all of this. He briefly wondered if he could ever look May in the eye after this.

”What? What do you mean?” May asked, but the officer raised his hand.

”Did Stark force you to come?” The officer asked. May could hardly believe what was going on. Based on the little information the officer had provided, it seemed like Tony was the predator, but it did not make sense to her that Peter would want to see him if he wasn’t a good guy.

 “No. Stark hasn’t forced me to do anything. It was my choice to go to his house, because I wanted to see him.” Peter said clearly, his fingernails digging further into his palm. They were in deep shit, but Peter would have rather died than give the impression that Tony had forced him into what they had been doing.

”And how many times have you met Stark? Besides at the mental facility when you were his patient.” The officer asked, noting down what Peter is saying.

“I-“ Peter took a shaky breath. “I stayed with him for a week while my aunt was hospitalised. T-They said I should call somebody that I know to help me. I didn’t have anyone else, so…” He admitted, his hands fidgeting in his lap as he watched the police officer write something down.

”And what did you do at his house?” The officer asked, barely affected by what Peter was telling him and took it all very professionally. May, on the other hand, was shocked to hear that Peter had been gone while she was in hospital.

”But, you told me you stayed here! Taking care of the apartment and such.” May said, shaking Peter’s shoulders to get some sense out of her nephew.

Peter bit down on his lip when May shook him, still not looking at her. “I-I stayed in his guest bedroom, and th-then when he went to work I would go out to meet my friends or- or go to my therapy sessions depending on what day it was, ‘n sometimes I’d go back to our apartment to make sure everything was alright.” He said, his hands shaking harder than before.

”What?” May asked in disbelief. ”Why would you stay with him? You could have called MJ or Ned. Or I could have asked one of my coworkers to check on you.” May rambled, causing the officer to clear his throat.

”Ma’am, please, if you’d let me finish.” He requested and May sat back reluctantly. ”And did Stark ever force himself on you? Or make you do something you didn’t want to?” The officer continued.

Peter shook his head vigorously at that. “N-No. He never made me do anything I didn’t want to do.” He said clearly. It felt like his heart was in his throat, and he almost felt a little light-headed at what was happening. His hands started to fiddle with the fabric of his skinny jeans, gripping it between his fingertips and pulling.

”I see.” The officer mused before noting down some more in his notepad. ”Still, Stark invited you to his home and as a psychiatrist, he is not allowed to do such to his former patients, no matter the circumstances.”

”He is right, baby, he’s a predator. Christ, I should have called Maria and ask if you could stay with her while I was gone.” May sighed.

 “Wh- He- He’s not a _predator_! I went there willingly, how is that predatory behaviour?” Peter cried in outrage, looking between May and the police officer incredulously. “I-I-I was the one who called him first, I started all of this, you can’t blame him for that!” He said, the feeling of anger beginning to replace his nervousness.

”Baby, doctors aren’t supposed be with patients outside of a professional setting. It’s illegal!” May argued and the officer nodded in agreement.

”It’s professional misconduct.” The officer added.

Peter groaned in despair and leaned forward on the couch to put his head in his hands. His hands went to grip his hair, and his body began to shake once more. “S-So what happens now?” He asked fearfully, not looking up from the floor. He could already feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away quickly. He didn’t want the police officer to watch him have a breakdown.

”Well, it is mostly up to you, Peter.” The office started, putting his notepad aside for now. ”Based on the evidence so far, you can press charges against Doctor Stark if you wish to do so, but the state will either way press charges against him and there will be a court case most likely.”

 “No!” Peter cried. “I-I’m not pressing charges against him. He- He doesn’t deserve that, h-he...” Peter desperately wanted to say that the man was innocent, that he had done nothing wrong, but in the eyes of the law he knew that wasn’t true. He gripped his hair tighter and finally let out a quiet sob, the gravity of the situation finally getting to him.

”Peter, it’s okay, it’s okay.” May comforted, wrapping her arms around Peter and squeezed him tight. ”You don’t have to press charges, they’ll get him either way.” She added, feeling quite protective over her nephew now and held him tight as he cried.

 “N-No, you don’t understand! I-I don’t _want_  them to get him, h-he’s done nothing wrong!” Peter sobbed, turning his face to hide it in May’s shoulder so that the officer couldn’t see him. “H-He was just trying to help me, and I w-wanted him to!” He cried, his body now shaking quite violently.

”I understand that, Peter, but he still broke the law and we haven’t even finished our investigation.” The officer explained while May continued to comfort Peter by stroking his hair and holding him close. ”And you don’t have to make up your mind now on whether you want to press charges or not. You can take some time to think about it and then let us know at the station.” He added calmly.

Peter had already made his mind up about not pressing charges, but he didn’t say anything in response to what the officer was saying. He simply continued to cry into May’s shoulder, each breath feeling like a punch to the stomach and exhausting him. He had ruined a man’s life, and it was all his fault.

”Could we continue this at another time?” May asked the officer as she was growing quite concerned for her nephew.

”Of course. I got most of what I needed, so thank you for talking to me, Peter.” The officer said, trying to catch the boy’s eyes. May sat back a little and guided Peter more upright so that he could see the officer who had now risen from his seat.

Peter didn’t want to look at the officer, but had no choice as he was manoeuvred to look at him. He wanted to say something, anything that would help convince the officer that Tony hadn’t done anything wrong, but his throat had closed up and he could barely speak at all. He looked briefly at the officer’s face and then away again, embarrassed and hurt.

”Thank you, sir.” May said on Peter’s behalf when he didn’t reply to the officer, but the man was hardly offended and smiled politely.

”I’ll show myself out.” He said and with that he left the apartment, closing the door behind him.

”Peter?” May asked gently, pushing the hair out of her nephew’s eyes to see him better.

“I-It’s all my fault… h-h-he’s not a predator, I-I did this, it-“ Peter started to ramble, his gaze flickering everywhere but May’s face. His eyes were red and watery, with tear tracks down his cheeks and his face blotchy. “He- he-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence before he started to cry again, and for a moment he felt violently sick.

”No, no, no, baby.” May shushed, rubbing Peter’s back to try and provide some comfort, but it seemed to have a minimal effect. ”He’s in the wrong here. You did nothing wrong, you’re the victim.” She explained.

Peter shook his head, his hands coming up to rub at his face and try and clear some of the tears that were still on his cheeks. “I-I’m not. He d-didn’t do anything wrong.” He said finally, his eyes gazing into the middle distance as he thought about Tony. God, was Tony put into handcuffs? Was he at the station right now? Thinking about it made him feel sick, but it was all he could think about.

May sighed as she felt at a loss for words. It seemed that Peter was convinced that Tony was innocent, but May did not agree with that. She had seen her fair share of misconduct in the workspace and it always tended to be cocky male doctors who preyed on everyone else.

When May went silent, Peter did as well, still staring into the middle distance with a thousand-yard stare. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to comb it with his fingers but with little effect. “I-I’m gonna go to my room.” He said quietly, moving to stand up off the couch but being careful not to jostle May too much because of her injury.

”Okay, baby.” May said quietly, forcing a smile but Peter did not face her to see it. ”I’ll make dinner soon.” She said, not knowing what else to say as she was also quite confused and emotional over the whole situation.

Peter didn’t respond to that. He simply dragged his feet to his bedroom and closed the door behind him, and leant against it with the back of his head pressed against the wood. He didn’t even take another step further in before he slid to the floor, his legs giving out entirely as he realised how he had ruined a man’s life.


	77. 77

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to square one for peter.

Peter hadn’t left his room in four days. As a result, he hadn’t eaten or taken his meds in that long either. He had a habit of keeping water bottles in his room all the time, but they were soon running out and he didn’t have the strength to go out and get more. As it was, he laid in bed with an arm tossed over his sunken eyes to stop the sunlight from the window from hitting him in the face. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, and had been doing so for twelve hours. It all hurt, but he reasoned that it would hurt less than the pain he had caused Tony.

May thought she had seen Peter at his worst, which was before the first time she had sent Peter to the mental facility, but to her horror her nephew looked nearly dead now. She had tried everything, talking to him, not talking to him, making his favourite dishes and bringing plates of food to his room, but nothing seemed to get a reaction out of him. ”Peter?” She said gently, tip toeing into the room and going to Peter’s bed. ”Hey, Peter. Peter?” When Peter did not stir at all, May tried to shake him awake, but she barely got a reaction. Checking his pulse, May found it to be slow and weak, and as fast as she could with her still healing injury, she hurried to get her phone to call 911.

Peter was currently between states right now, drifting back into unconsciousness like he was falling asleep. He thought he could hear something very faintly in the distance, but he just put it down to another one of his hallucinations. Those seemed to be happening more frequently as well, where Tony would appear in his room or his voice would rattle around his ears. But when he would reach out to touch him, the doctor would dissipate and leave Peter grabbing at air. He soon passed out where he laid, unaware of the world around him.

As calmly as she could, May explained the situation to the 911 operator at the other end of the line, but stressed the urgency of the situation. Just a few minutes later, she could hear sirens in the distance and left the apartment door ajar for the medics once they arrived before returning to Peter’s side. ”It will be okay, it will be okay. You gotta be okay, Peter.” May cried quietly, checking Peter’s pulse and breathing again. She could some comfort in them, but she could hardly stay calm while her nephew refused to wake up despite her best efforts to try and wake him. A couple moments later, the medics arrived and started examining and caring for Peter. They soon got him loaded into the ambulance and after May’s desperate pleas, they decided to bring him to the mental facility.

\---

When Peter woke up again, it was slowly and with a heavy head. He groggily opened his eyes, and immediately noticed that his bedsheets felt different to how they did before. When he opened his eyes further, his stomach dropped in pure terror. “Oh God.” He murmured, looking around the ward room slowly. He looked down at his arms to see that they had been hooked up to an IV, and the intermittent beeping of the monitors next to his bed made his head throb. “No... no, no, no...” He mumbled, realising where he was. He was back at the facility.

Now that Stark was under arrest and with his liscense temporarily revoked during the police investigation, Rhodes and Banner as well as all other doctors at the facility had their hands full covering for his patients. After getting alerted of an incoming ambulance transporting Peter Parker, Rhodes got assigned to the case as was the one who carried out the inital physical exam and got Peter settled on the ward. But, Rhodes was busy when Peter’s heart monitor spiked and it was Thor who saw it instead and headed to the ward to check on the boy. ”Hey, Parker.” The nurse said gently as he approached Peter’s bed. ”Remember me? It’s Thor.”

Peter tilted his head to look wearily at the person who had suddenly materialised at the end of his bed. When did they get here? “Thor... no, no, no, d- wanna go home, don’t... d-don’t wanna... let me go home.” He pleaded weakly, his entire body feeling like dead weight and his eyes already hurting from having them open for this long.

”Hey, hey, it’s all right. Just take it easy, kid.” Thor continued to speak gently, keeping his hands up and visible to show that he wasn’t going to hurt Peter as he came up to his bedside.

 “No... no...! Wh- I wanna go _home_ , I... I don’t wanna be here, wanna...” Peter’s rambling began to pick up speed, and his body started to move as he shuffled away from Thor as best he could. “Wanna go home... Wh-Where’s Tony?” He asked dazedly, like he expected the doctor to walk through the door at any moment in his usual white labcoat and cheeky yet endearing smile. “Wh-Where... Tony, I- I need-“

Thor could already tell that Peter was beginning to panic and reached for his pager to call for assistance. Frightened patients tended to be difficult to deal with alone, even for a huge man like Thor. ”Kid, take it easy and lay back for me, yeah? We’ll answer all your questions in a bit, but you have to stay calm for us.” He explained gently as simply.

 “N-No, I n-need Tony, where i-is he? Wh-Where is he, need Tony, need...!” Peter continued to babble, his heart rate soon picking up and his breathing becoming more shallow. “N-Need Tony, wanna go h-home, let me go home!” He said, a little louder than before as panic started to set in for the boy and he struggled to sit up.

”Peter, please, lay back or you might pass out again. You’re safe here and you’re okay.” Thor comforted, placing his hand on Peter’s shoulder to try and guide him to lay back. Steve arrived then and speed walked over to the boy’s other bedside. ”Hey, kid. You doing okay?” He asked with a little smile, despite the state the boy was obviously in.

Peter flinched hard when Thor touched him, shaking his shoulder out of the man’s grasp like he had just been burnt. “No! W-Wanna go _home_ , back with... back with T-Tony, where i-is he?” The boy completely ignored Steve’s question when he came in, and instead continued to babble hopelessly while he tried to get up. “Need Tony, I-I need him, g-give him back, please! Please, please, need T-Tony!” He began to beg, his face contorted in anguish as he tried to call out for his former doctor.

Giving Thor a concerned look, Steve goes to fetch a sedative to help the boy settle down. Meanwhile, Thor continues to try and calm him down. ”Doctor Stark isn’t here now. He is at the police station because of allegations over misconduct. I’m sorry, Peter, but he isn’t here.”

 “No, no, no! N-Need Tony, need Tony!” Peter repeated, his face further contorting as he tried to push Thor away from him. He soon began to kick his legs as well, trying to shove the bedcovers off of him so that he could get up easier. “Tony! Tony, please!” He finally screamed, desperate for what Thor was saying to not be true and for the doctor to actually be at the facility, rather than the police station. “Tony!” His voice was a piercing sound and he could see Steve and Thor both flinching in pain at how loudly he was beginning to cry.

”Peter, Peter, settle down, kid.” Thor tried again, grabbing the boy’s shoulders and pushed him back on the bed. ”Jesus, get it administered already.” Thor cursed under his breath and Steve took hold of the IV tubing and injected the sedative through the port. It was not enough to knock Peter out completely, as he would need another dose to do that, but it would help him relax and calm down.

Peter tried his hardest to struggle against Thor’s hands, which were now keeping him back against the bed, but in his weakened state he found it increasingly difficult to do so. “Tony! Need Tony, please!” He screamed again, louder this time even with the sedative being injected through his IV port. However, as the sedative started to kick in, he could feel himself becoming more and more sluggish. It didn’t stop him from kicking up a fuss and trying to push Thor away from him, though. “Daddy!” He howled in anguish, but it was too late as the sedative began to work and Peter slowly stopped struggling. “Daddy...! T-Tony, need D-Daddy...! Need...” He slurred, hiccuping on his words.

”You’re okay, Peter, you’re okay.” Thor continued to repeat as slowly, but surely Peter began to relax under him. ”You’re safe here and you’re okay.” He added as he let go of the boy and patted his shoulder. ”Is Rhodey on his way?” Thor asked and Steve nodded before throwing the used syringe away. ”Yeah, I sent him a page while on my way here.” The nurse said and a second later, the doctor in question walked in.

Peter was now mumbling incoherently under his breath, his eyes glazed over as he stared at his hands resting on the bedcovers. He barely looked up when a doctor he didn’t recognise walked in, but he had been listening to the nurse’s conversation and assumed that this was the ‘Rhodey’ they were talking about. “Wanna go _home_. Want Tony.” He said quietly but simply, not looking up to meet the doctor’s gaze.

After speaking briefly with the two nurses, Rhodey walked up to Peter’s bedside. ”Hey, there. My name is James Rhodes and I’m your doctor.” Rhodey said and introduced himself when stood by the boy’s bedside. He spoke slowly and clearly because he knew from experience that sedated patients tended to be slowed down by the drugs. ”Can you tell me your full name and age?” Rhodey asked, wanting to see how alert Peter was.

 “You’re not my doctor.” Peter mumbled bitterly under his breath. After a few seconds, he spoke again. “‘m Peter... Benjamin Parker, ‘n ‘m... ‘m 18.” He said, looking pointedly down at his lap and not looking the doctor in the eye. The sedative was making him slow and sluggish, and he felt like he was seconds away from falling asleep again.

”Okay, good.” Rhodey smiled at the boy. ”The nurses have given you a little something to help you rest, so don’t fight it and just lets it do its job. Okay?” The doctor explained. He could tell that Peter was barely alert and clearly needed to rest.

Peter sighed. He hated this so much, hated this place without Tony and he had barely been awake for 20 minutes. He took the doctor’s advice begrudgingly, and soon found that he was falling asleep with little help. In his slightly dazed state, he accidentally mumbled a quiet “G’night, Tony.” before he drifted off, his head filled with thoughts of his former doctor.


	78. 78

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> someone old and someone new.

A few days later, Peter had gained enough strength back to be allowed out of the medical wing of the facility, and to have his own room. It wasn’t the same room as last time, but this time his room was in the East Wing. That meant that he would be likely to see Loki again, and his stomach did small flipflops at the thought of that. He hadn’t made any progress with Rhodey, however, still actively refusing to talk to him due to the simple fact that he wasn’t Stark.

For the time being, though, it was lunch and Peter nervously entered the canteen. He subconsciously did a sweep of the room, and his eyes fell on the raven-haired teenager who was sat at a table near the back, with a patient that Peter didn’t recognise. He got his food and then nervously approached the table. “C-Can I sit here?” He asked from behind Loki, trying to hide his small smile at the thought of Lo’s reaction to seeing him again.

Loki felt his stomach drop at the sound of that voice and whipped around in his seat. ”Peter! Holy shit!” He gasped out and sprang up from his seat to embrace his old friend. The other boy sat across from Loki did not seem impressed by the whole emotional reunion and scoffed before poking at his food.

Peter nearly dropped his food at how quickly Loki hugged him. He squirmed to place the tray down on the table before embracing him properly, burying his face in Loki’s shoulder and staying there for a brief moment. Somehow, hugging Loki was the closest to happy he had felt in the last week in a half, and there was no way in hell he was letting go of that feeling. “I missed you so much, greaseball.” He mumbled as the two of them broke apart and looked at each other. “A- A lots happened.” He said simply, scratching the back of his neck.

”Yeah, obviously since you’re back here.” Loki laughed, not quite catching onto Peter’s unease as he was so wrapped up in his own joy of seeing Peter again.

Peter smiled weakly at that. On the one hand, he was happy to see Loki again, but it meant he was back at the facility which was the last place he wanted to be. He suddenly realised that there was someone watching them, and peered over Loki’s shoulder to see a boy staring at him, unimpressed. “Uhm... hello. I-I’m Peter.” He said, introducing himself. He mildly hoped that this boy wouldn’t be the same as Loki when _they_  first met, remembering how Loki had been a dick to begin with.

Loki dropped the smile when he saw Peter’s face drop a bit. He was very glad that Peter decided to change the subject a bit.

”Peter, huh? So, you’re the real Peter then.” The boy chuckled as he studied Peter in front of him.

 “The ‘real’ Peter? What do you... what are you talking about?” Peter asked, glancing over at Loki with a confused look only to find that it was mirrored by Loki’s expression. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other where he stood, blinking owlishly a few times at the boy.

The boy laughed again at the sight of Peter’s puzzled expression. ”One of the doctors called me ’Peter’ one time. Hella embarrassing for him.” He chuckled before offering his hand out to Peter in a handshake. ”My name’s Harley.”

Peter blinked. So _that_  was the patient that Tony had called by his name by accident. He gulped thickly at the thought of Tony, but pushed that thought aside to also put his hand out for the boy- Harley, to shake. “You been here long?” He asked, he and Loki both taking a seat once more and Peter poking at his food.

”A month or something?” Harley answered with a shrug. ”I’m not keeping count. But, what about you? You seem to know this place, with the staff calling everyone else by your name and shit.” He laughed.

Usually, Loki would be a lot more chatty, but he was far too busy looking at Peter almost lovingly. He was really happy to have his friend back.

 “Yeah, I’ve... I’ve been in and out of here a few times. Bit like a revolving door, you know?” Peter joked weakly, making a circular gesture with his fork before shoving it into his food and taking a small bite. He grimaced at the taste, but figured that it was better than nothing.

”Yeah, yeah.” Harley nodded as he listened. ”It’s my first, and hopefully last, time here.” He added before he turned back to his food.

“That reminds me, Lo, my new room is in the East wing instead of the South, so we’re gonna be neighbours or something.” Peter said, finally turning to look at Loki.

”Yeah, we are neighbours.” Loki beamed.

 “Cool.” Peter smiled back gently, taking another bite of food. He glanced over at Harley every so often as he ate, thinking about what Loki told him on the phone about the boy. He seemed far more chilled out than Loki’s description, but he supposed that after a month, Harley was going to calm down regardless. “Anything happen since we last spoke?” Peter asked Loki, putting his fork down briefly.

”Oh, man.” Loki chuckled. ”This shit right here has been causing so much havoc around here, it’s unbelievable. He gave all the staff here a hard time and even impressed me.” He added in a bit of a sing song voice to tease Harley. And as usual, Loki was not being entirely truthful.

”Shut it. I told you already, the meds got me fucked up.” Harley grumbled, but couldn’t help a bit of a smile.

Peter watched the two of them interact, and laughed quietly as they poked fun at each other. He was glad that Loki hadn’t mentioned Tony’s sudden disappearance, but maybe that was because the patients weren’t allowed to know about it. He kept his mouth shut about that, not wanting to get into that story right now. “So what, you two have been running the place then?” He snorted, picking his fork back up again to eat more of his food.

”Yeah, yeah, I mean I had to get another partner in crime after you left me here.” Loki laughed, nudging Peter with his elbow. ”It was really slow at first, but then this guy showed up and caused such a scene, so I wasn’t so bored anymore.” Loki continued to tease. Harley wasn’t too bothered and just scoffed lightly.

Peter couldn’t resist smiling at that. The fact that Loki considered him his partner in crime made him feel soft and fuzzy on the inside, and he poked the raven-haired boy back in retaliation. “Just imagine the damage the three of us could do.” He said lightly, resting his chin on his hand as he poked at his food.

”Oh, so I’m not just replaceable like that? We’re a trio now?” Harley asked with a grin. He quite liked the idea of having some proper friends while waiting for his contract to expire.

“Duh. If you can be friends with _this_  greaseball and not want to throttle him, I think we’ll get on fine.” Peter teased, shoving Loki with his elbow and ducking when the boy tried to slap him back.

”Hey, shut it!” Loki laughed, but showed no other signs of disagreement to the whole team up idea. ”But, just so we are clear, we are not doing some stupid team name, nor any code names.” Harley said, using his fork to point at both Loki and Peter.

“Awh, what? That’s the best part of having a team! Are you telling me you wouldn’t wanna be Eagle One?” Peter shot back, laughing at how Harley narrowed his eyes at him. “Pullin’ heists all over the place, breaking into the kitchen and stealing the chocolate pudding?” He waggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly, like he was trying to entice them.

”Jesus, you haven’t changed at all, puppy eyes.” Loki groaned out dramatically, covering his face with his hands. ”This one’s an optimist, if you couldn’t tell.” Loki said, pointing at Peter next to him.

Harley snorted and shook his head softly. ”I could tell before he even opened his mouth.”

“Wh- Hey!” Peter said indignantly, slapping Loki on the shoulder playfully. “Well, excuuuuuse me for tryin’ to have some fun. I could fucking use some right about now.” He said, his expression momentarily dropping as his subconscious reminded him of where he was, and why he was there.

”Sorry, sorry.” Loki chuckled, but wasn’t being entirely sincere. He was still working on that with Banner. ”So, how did you end up back here anyway? Did Strange get you fucked up?”

Harley perked up at the mention of a new name. ”Who’s Strange?”

Loki’s question made Peter freeze. He wasn’t sure how truthful he should be when answering, and glanced from Loki to Harley intermittently. “Strange is another doctor. He doesn’t work here, though, he has his own clinic, thank fuck.” Peter said, stabbing his leftover food with his fork. “And yeah, he... he fucked me over. Fucked me over big time, I- I hate him.” He said bitterly, his fist tightly gripping the utensil.

”Kinda hate to say it, but I told you so.” Loki said with a little shrug. ”But, who’s your doctor now then? Cause I know you aren’t seeing Stark anymore, because no one is.” He added and Harley nodded in agreement.

”He’s on leave for some reason.” Harley said as he poked at his food.

At the mention of Tony, Peter tried to hide his flinch. “Uh, i-it’s Rhodes.” He mumbled, dropping his fork and placing his hand in his lap to hide how it was beginning to shake. “’For some reason’? So… so nobody told you guys where he went?” He asked as casually as possible.

”I’m seeing Wilson now.” Harley shrugged as he didn’t really have an opinion on his new doctor yet. ”No, they just said he’s on leave. Doctors do that now and then.” Loki explained before thinking of something. ”What? Do you know something?” He asked, considering Peter had just recently come from the outside and would know a thing or two about what was going on.

Peter shook his head quickly. “No, I- I have no idea. I guess you’re right, d-doctors must do that sometimes without warning.” He lied through his teeth, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. He hated that he had to lie to Loki and the new boy like that, but he had no idea how either of them would react to hearing what had actually happened for Peter to end up back at the facility.

”Yeah, yeah, well usually we get a heads up so we don’t suddenly have to switch doctors.” Loki explained, knowing the drill of most things at the facility. Secretly, he was very glad Banner wasn’t the one who left all of a sudden. Harley, on the other hand, didn’t care much as all he cared about was the countdown till his contract expired.

 “Ah...” Peter hummed, nodding in understanding. “I guess I, uh, didn’t need the heads up seeing as he left before I came back.” He mumbled, trying not to sound too put out by it. The feeling of guilt was already beginning to creep up on him once more, and his eyes glazed over slightly as he wondered what had happened the day after he and Tony were found out by Strange.

”Hmm, true.” Loki mused before asking with a snicker. ”So, how does Rhodey compare to Stark? Do you miss the handsome fucker?” Harley seemed to grow bored of the whole conversation and got up from his seat without saying a word and left the canteen.

Peter watched Harley go out of the corner of his eye, and for a brief moment was glad that he left so that he didn’t have to hear what Loki was asking him. “I- Uh, he’s... he’s not bad. I-I miss Stark, yeah, but... you know.” He said, shrugging with one shoulder. He still had his hands in his lap, gripping his wrist in his other hand to try and stop it from shaking so much.

”Yeah, yeah.” Loki said with a shrug. They fell silent for a while until Bucky came over with a smile.

”Parker, I’d say I’m happy to see you, but...” The nurse chuckled and pulled a grimace. ”It’s nice to see you two reunited, though.” He added as he knew about how much Loki has missed his friend.

Peter could feel himself getting emotional by thinking about Tony, but then the appearance of the nurse forced him out of his own head. “Barnes.” He nodded in response, before turning to look at Loki. “Yeah, just wait for the damage we’re gonna do together.” He snorted lightly, slowly letting go of his hands in his lap when he felt that they had steadied themselves.

”Should we break into Rhodey’s office? Or maybe Wilson’s?” Loki joked, lifting his hands in surrender when Bucky shot him a look.

 “I _told_  you, Lo, we’re gonna go canteen first. If we get into the freezers, we can find that raspberry ice cream with the swirls.” Peter added, biting his lip to stop a wide grin from spreading at how exasperated Bucky already looked at the two of them. “We’re just jokin’, Barnes. If you wanna help us out, though, we can get _you_  some of that ice cream.”

Loki snorted as Peter continued joking and at the face the nurse was giving them. ”Oh, I’m starting to think we really screwed up by putting you in a room so close to Loki’s.” Bucky laughed before patting Peter’s shoulder. ”Either way, you got a session in a bit, so don’t forget about that.” Bucky reminded before heading off.

Peter’s smile faded from his face when Bucky informed him of his session, and turned to look back at his food. As the nurse left the two boys to it, he waited for a moment before speaking. “I hate having my sessions.” He mumbled under his breath, fiddling with his fork.

”Who doesn’t?” Loki sighed, not catching onto Peter’s distress. He hadn’t finished his food and wasn’t planning on doing so either. ”So, you wanna show me your lair?”

Peter looked down at his food, and then back up at Loki, before shrugging. “Yeah, sure. I have no idea when the session is, but they’ll probably find me.” He nodded, getting up from the canteen table and indicating for Loki to follow him. Together they headed out of the cafeteria, and towards the East Wing where their rooms were down the corridor from one another.


	79. 79

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter's session with rhodey.

Eventually, Bucky found the two boys and announced that it was time for Peter's session. He lead the way to the doctor’s office and on their way, they passed Tony’s office. The nurse did not say anything about it and instead just kept walking before pausing by Rhodey’s door. He knocked twice and after a moment, the doctor in question opened the door with a friendly smile.

”Come on in, Peter.” The doctor invited, opening the door wider. This was their first proper session as till now they had only talked while Peter was on the medical ward.

Peter looked down at the linoleum floor of the corridor as they made their way to Rhodey’s office. He knew that they were passing Tony’s office, and couldn’t resist glancing up at the door longingly, like he expected the doctor to appear from behind it. When they got to Rhodey’s office, he was ushered in and barely said goodbye to Bucky before the door closed behind him. He stood a little awkwardly at the door, not sure where to sit.

Rhodey gave Peter a moment to look around before walking over to the comfortable chair facing one another with a little table on the side. ”Shall we sit down?” The doctor suggested, moving to sit in his chair.

Peter looked around the room. Rhodey’s office was almost identical to Tony’s in terms of layout, but Rhodey seemed far more organised. Tony’s office used to have papers in messy stacks all over the place and folders shoved onto the bookshelves, whereas Rhodey’s office seemed very put together and neat. He slowly took a few steps forward and sank onto the chair facing the doctor, his leg bouncing with excess nerves.

”So, how are you, Peter?” Rhodey started after Peter had settled in his chair. He had a friendly smile on his face throughout to try and help his new patient feel at ease.

“I’m… I’m okay? I-I dunno. ‘m back here, so clearly ‘m not great, but…” Peter mumbled, glancing up at Rhodey every so often. He could tell that the doctor was trying to put him at ease by being friendly, but Peter didn’t know whether he wanted that.

”Hmm, I understand that.” Rhodey nodded. ”But, for now we can focus on how you are right now. Do you feel like you have settled in here?”

“Y-Yeah, I think so.” Peter answered, beginning to crack his knuckles. “I-I made friends with, uhm, Loki before I left last time, so i-it was nice to come back ‘n see him. And then he made a friend so I was introduced to them, ‘n… yeah. It gets easier coming back each time.”

”That’s good to hear.” Rhodey smiled, glad to hear that the two boys were reunited again. Banner had told him that Loki took Peter’s departure kind of roughly and that everyone should keep their eye on him. ”Who did Loki introduce you to?”

Peter shifted on the chair briefly. “Uhm, his name was Harley? Brown hair, blue eyes, around my height?” He described the boy, lifting a hand to indicate his height. “He was cool, but Lo said he caused a lot of trouble when he first came. Kinda reminded me of myself, in that way.” He said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Rhodey nodded to show that he knew who Peter was referring to, but did not comment on the trouble he caused, although it was very much true. ”So, what do you think of him then?”

Peter pursed his lips in thought. “He was alright. A bit… detached? But that’s probably cos I don’t really know him, so I’m not really surprised.” He shrugged, no longer looking Rhodey in the face and instead looking down at his hands.

”Hmm, that’s understandable.” Rhodey mused, giving Peter a moment to think to see if he would say some more. The doctor really believed in the principle of not pushing patients into answering questions, but rather let their thoughts flow and encourage them to speak freely.

Peter continued to stare down at his lap, his feet tapping nervously against the floor. After a second, he became confused. Why wasn’t Rhodey asking him more questions? The silence between them was almost deafening, and while Rhodey probably didn’t feel like it was awkward, Peter felt embarrassed at the obtuse quietness. His sessions with Tony were never like this.

Rhodey continued to stay silent, letting Peter think. He kept his eyes fixed on the boy, studying him closely and found his body language to be nervous. ”What would you like to talk about, Peter?” The doctor finally asked when his patient did not say anything.

Peter looked up briefly when Rhodey addressed him. It was such a simple question, but it had such a complex answer in Peter’s head that at first he didn’t say anything at all. He had no doubt that talking about Tony would be at the very least awkward, and almost certainly painful, but he had nothing else on his mind. “I-I don’t know.” He said quietly, chewing down on his lip as images of Tony filled his head and almost made him choke.

Rhodey gave Peter another moment to think. The boy clearly looked like something was weighing on him, but Rhodey did not want to put thoughts in his head unless they were already there. ”Anything on your mind is worth talking about.” The doctor encouraged gently.

Peter grimaced at that, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. “I… I miss Tony.” He said quietly, no longer looking at Rhodey. He was so embarrassed to say it, especially when he knew that it was probably just feeding into the wrong idea that Peter was the victim of this situation when he wasn’t.

”As your doctor you mean?” Rhodey asked. He knew the vague details of the situation with his coworker and how he handled his patients. It all was a shock and brought shame to the whole facility. Pepper had a press conference and made a public statement about the whole thing. Still, Rhodey kept his own emotions in check and kept a neutral face as he looked at Peter sat opposite him.

Peter gulped, and his face turned a shameful red. “Everything.” He mumbled, even quieter than before. He knew that no matter what he said, he wouldn’t be able to convince the adults in his life that he was not the victim and in fact the one that started everything by kissing Tony during his medical exam, so he simply kept his mouth shut.

”What do you mean everything?” Rhodey asked further.

The way that Tony made him feel safe. The way that Tony changed for him, so that they would be happy together. How Tony never turned him away from his door, how he seemed to always know how Peter was feeling without the boy saying anything, how instead of getting offended by being called ‘Pervert’, he laughed it off and tickled Peter until he cried uncle. “Just... everything.” The boy mumbled. “It wasn’t his fault.” He said finally, rapidly blinking to fight back tears.

”What wasn’t his fault?” Rhodey asked, glad that they were getting somewhere with their conversation, although it would hurt to talk about it.

 “He- It-“ Peter fumbled with his words, trying his best to speak despite the overwhelming feeling of his throat closing up. “E-Everyone keeps s-saying I’m the victim, but I’m not. He- Nothing was his fault. He c-cared about his job, I w-was the one who fucked up.” He said, his hands now shaking properly and his voice wavering as he held back tears.

”You think what happened to Stark was your fault? How come?” Rhodey asked a little baffled, but did not let it show on his face. The doctor hoped that Peter had told this to the police too as this would be important for Tony’s case.

 “Because... because I started it. I was the one who-“ Peter suddenly stopped talking, his head spinning and his throat closing up. He shook his head thoroughly, like he was trying to clear it. They were going to find out anyway, so it was better that Peter said it first. “I-I was the one who kissed him. I- I started it. It wasn’t his fault.” He stammered, and with that admission he finally broke down into tears. He had completely ruined Tony’s life, and his reputation as a psychiatrist, and yet people still thought that Peter was the victim.

Rhodey could do little else but watch as his patient broke down into tears. The doctor wanted to believe that his coworker had manipulated Peter into believing he was at fault, after all Tony was the one with the power in the relation, but there was something so raw and vulnerable in the way the boy's whole frame shook as he cried.

Peter shielded his face from Rhodey’s gaze, hating that he had to see him crying. Despite his best efforts, the tears wouldn’t stop falling and Peter found himself becoming more and more frustrated at that fact. Spurned by this frustration, and the fact that Rhodey wasn’t saying anything, he stood up suddenly and fled the office, slamming the door behind him. He didn’t even know where he was going, but he passed Tony’s office as he walked and that was enough for fresh tears to begin forming.

”Peter-” Rhodey started and rose from his seat when the boy ran out of his office. ”Peter, come back, please.” He requested as he jogged after the boy to catch up with him.

 “N-No!” Peter shook his head, continuing to walk even though he could hear Rhodey catching up behind him. “Y-You’ll just try a-and say that I’m the _victim_ , and that h-he’s the one at fault, but he’s not!” He yelled, running a hand through his hair like he was deranged. To be honest, he wasn’t expecting the doctor to come after him. That was another difference between him and Tony, Tony always let him go if he wanted to, whereas Rhodey seemed to want to keep up with him.

”Peter, I will not do that.” Rhodey assured, finally catching up with Peter to grab him by the elbow. ”I just wish to hear what you have to say. Shall we go back to my office and continue there?” The doctor added gently.

Peter flinched when he felt a hand wrap around his elbow, and instantly wriggled his arm out of the man’s grip. “Don’t touch me! I’m done, alright?” He hissed, turning on his heel and storming down the corridor with his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

”All right, all right. We’ll talk more later.” Rhodey said and let Peter run off, but he did alert the nurses to keep an eye on the boy.

Peter turned a corner and broke out into a run, desperate to put some distance between him and Rhodes, and turning another corner he spotted Loki at the end of the corridor.

Seeing Peter running towards him, Loki pulled a puzzled expression. ”Fuck, man, you look rough.” He pointed out.

Peter approached Loki and huffed a breath, slowing when he reached him. “Huh?” He said, but then realised that he had just been crying, and so lifted a hand to wipe at his face. “I-It’s nothing. Rough session.” He muttered, dropping his gaze so that Loki couldn’t see how red-rimmed with tears his eyes were. “What’re you- What’re you doing here?”

”Barely a session. You weren’t there for an hour.” Loki said, studying Peter in front of him to see if he could get to the bottom of why he looked so upset. He ignored the question about what he was up to as he would rather focus on anyone but himself.

Peter pushed the hair out of his eyes and glanced up to meet Loki’s gaze. He had forgotten how piercing Loki’s eyes were, like they could see right through him, but he shook that thought out of his head. “I-It was nothing, I’m fine.” He lied, letting out another shaky breath. “You gonna interrogate me like they do?” He asked, trying to make a joke.

”Nah, man.” Loki laughed, waving his hand in the air. ”I’ll let them do all the boring digging for childhood trauma and shit.” He said before shutting his mouth when Steve came over from down the hall.

”Hey, Peter, you all right?” The nurse asked with a kind smile.

Peter’s mouth quirked up, not quite a smile but enough to show that he was amused, but then that look promptly vanished when Steve appeared. “‘m fine, Rogers. Me ‘n Loki were just gonna go to his room.” He said, praying that Loki would go along with it and not ask questions. He wiped at his face once more, acting as if he was scratching his nose but in reality making sure he didn’t look as rough as Loki said he did.

"Sure thing, Parker." Steve replied and Loki nodded to confirm the whole plan. But, the nurse did not leave the boys and walked with them down the hall instead. "Have you checked out the library yet? We got it furnished again and we have lots of new stuff there." Steve said, making some small talk, but Loki was not buying it. "It's hardly a library, more like two books and a broken chair to read them on."

Peter groaned inwardly when they started to walk in the direction of the East Wing, and found that Steve was following them. As much as he liked the nurse at times, he really wanted the man to piss off and leave them alone for once. “I’ll look at it later.” Peter hummed, snorting at Loki’s scathing comment about the library. He kept his gaze fixed firmly ahead of him so that he didn’t have to look at Steve, and as they got closer to the East Wing he could feel his patience slipping.

Loki could feel Peter ticking like a bomb next to him and kept his mouth shut as they got closer to his room. He really did not want Peter to get angry with him. Steve, on the other hand, did not pay mind to Peter in the same way and continued to walk with the two boys.

It felt like an eternity, but they eventually got to the East Wing and then Loki’s door. “Great seeing you, Rogers, bye!” Peter called out quickly, grabbing Loki by the wrist and pulling him into his room. He didn’t even hear the nurse’s response before he was shutting the door behind them, and he pressed his back against the wall to keep it closed. “Christ, sometimes the staff here really get on my nerves...” Peter breathed, tilting his head back against the door with his eyes closed.

”Dude, I thought you’d get used to it with your third time here.” Loki giggled and flopped down on his bed. ”But, they are all kinda stressed out and weird after the courses.” He sighed before stretching on the bed like a cat.

Peter opened his eye at the boy when he heard giggling, and tried to argue back but fell quickly silent when Loki brought something else up. “Courses? What courses?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “Like workshops?” He headed over to the bed as well, gently pushing Loki’s legs to one side so that he could sit down too.

”I don’t know, just one morning like a few days ago Pepper, the boss around here, arranged some courses for all the staff and some sessions were cancelled, including mine.” Loki explained, laying back on the bed and putting his hands behind his head.

Oh, fuck. Peter was willing to put money on the fact that those courses probably had something to do with Tony, seeing as they were done a few days ago. “Did you, uh, did you find out what the courses were about?” He asked as casually as possible, leaning back to place his hands on the mattress and watching Loki out of the corner of his eye.

”I tried to ask ‘em, but they wouldn’t tell. It’s like they’ve all got a stick up their asses.” Loki laughed, not noticing how uneasy Peter still was.

 “Mm.” Peter hummed in response, bringing his knees up to his chest on the bed. His mind began to race with thoughts, what if the staff all talked about him behind his back? Obviously they did otherwise, but in regards to... that. He gripped the fabric of his sweatpants to try and ground himself, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it was his fault the entire staff team had to take a course on professional behaviour.

”Even Thor’s been kinda off.” Loki mused, keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling and wasn’t actually paying much mind to what he was saying anymore now that he was thinking about the nurse.

Peter allowed himself to smile at that, looking at Loki who was dazedly watching the ceiling. “Of course _you’d_  notice if Thoooor was acting weird, eh Lo?” He teased, poking the boy in the side to see him squirm. “Nobody would be able to tell except you.” He snorted.

”Hey, shut it!” Loki laughed and used his leg to kick Peter, but not hard enough to hurt. ”Everyone’s acting weird, I told you so.”

“Hey, watch who you’re kicking!” Peter giggled, shoving the boy lightly back. Their playfight continued for a few more kicks and punches at each other, but soon they were left sat side by side on Loki’s bed, with Peter looking down at his hands. “Do you think they’ll ever tell us why they’re acting weird?” He asked quietly, too scared to admit that _he_  was the reason they were acting weird.

”Doubt it.” Loki deadpanned back, but then added after a moment. ”But, you can keep trying if you wish. It gets dull around here, so if asking them constantly will bring you joy, then knock yourself out.”

“Yeah, don’t think I will. They might throw me in solitary confinement for annoying them, or whatever equates to that around here.” Peter scoffed in response, sighing gently. It’s not like he needed to ask anyway, not when he knew what it was about. He only hoped that it wouldn’t affect him too much while he was stuck here.


	80. 80

The rest of the day had Peter avoiding the staff members as best he could when he left Loki’s room. He barely slept that night, tossing and turning with thoughts of guilt and embarrassment about Tony running through his mind.

The next morning, he headed to the canteen with Loki to have breakfast. Harley was there too, but he left early after becoming bored with the other boys’ conversation about superpowers. That conversation continued as they left the canteen and began wandering the corridors.

Peter was in the middle of explaining the benefits of teleportation over flight when they turned the corner, but his throat closed up when he recognised who was at the other end. It was Strange.

”Yeah, but think about how much more fun it is to fly than just teleport around-” Loki rambled, but suddenly halted when Peter stopped. ”What?” The boy asked, following Peter’s gaze and found Strange a little further down the hall with his nose in some files as he walked slowly.

Peter couldn’t breathe. His heart began to pound in his chest and his hands clenched into fists as he stared at the doctor who hadn’t even noticed them.

This was all his fault. If it weren’t for Strange, Peter wouldn’t be back in this place. He would be with his boyfriend, he would be happy.

Loki’s voice was turning into fuzz in his ears, and he stopped paying attention to him as he began to walk towards the doctor. His footsteps got faster and faster, like the boy was propelled by the sheer feeling of anger, and soon he had broken into a run. “Y-You bastard...” With his fist pulled back, he got close enough to Strange to strike, and did so by punching the man as hard as he possibly could across the shoulder.

Stephen raised his head from his papers when he heard running footsteps, but he was too late with reacting in any other way before he felt pain shoot up his arm. ”What the hell?” The doctor yelped, stepping back and seeing a furious Peter in front of him. But, before Peter could throw a second punch, Steve came running over and pulled the boy back.

Peter had pulled his arm back again, intending to aim for the doctor’s face, but suddenly he felt a large hand wrap around his elbow which wrenched him back and away from the doctor. “No! Get the fuck off me!” He screamed, pulling against Steve’s grip with all his might. “You fucking bastard!” He howled, his face contorted with rage as he struggled. He was like an animal, thrashing in Steve’s grip to try and get to the doctor to cause more harm, damage, anything that would replicate what Strange has caused him. “‘s your fault, it’s all your fault! You fucking bastard, you did this!” He sobbed, clawing the air with little regard for how he looked to other people. All he cared about at that moment was making Strange _hurt_.

”Peter, calm down!” Steve said sternly as he continued to grip Peter’s arm and tried to get his other one to restrain him properly. ”You okay?” Steve asked as Thor came over after hearing Peter’s screams.

”Yeah, yeah, just a bruise.” Stephen winced as he worked his arm. Now that they were two, they got Peter restrained by holding his arms behind his back.

”Peter, stop this.” Thor said.

Peter didn’t stop. If anything, he screamed louder, now trying to kick the doctor while his arms were held behind his back. “Why would you do that?! I was happy! You ruined everything, you took him away from me!” He yelled in anguish, his entire body shaking with sobs as he tried to fight the nurses holding him back. “I was finally happy!” He screamed, hot tears now spilling down his face as he spat insult after insult at the doctor stood in front of him. He was beginning to get tired but refused to stop, shaking his head as he tried to wriggle out of Steve and Thor’s grip.

”Peter.” Steve tried again, but when the boy refused to listen, he gave Thor a look. Together the nurses pushed the boy up against the wall, not hard enough to harm, but hard enough to keep him restrained. ”Peter, this isn’t doing any good.” Steve added, referring to the kicking and screaming.

After working his arm and getting most of the sting and throbbing pain rubbed away from his arm, Stephen continued to keep his distance from Peter. But, not in fear of another attack, but rather to let the boy calm down.

 “Wh- What’re you doing! Get the _fuck_  away from me!” Peter shouted, letting out a groan when his back hit the wall and he was caged in by the nurse’s arms. Although he was getting tired, it didn’t stop him from using the last of his energy to try and push himself off of the wall. “I just wanted to be happy, and you took him away from me!” Peter screamed, his voice breaking in despair before he finally slumped and his screams dissolved into loud sobs. He pushed hopelessly against the nurses, but it was no use. His vision, though blurred with tears, stayed fixed on the doctor who was now standing some distance away from him. “You piece of shit...! I was happy with him!” He cried, his throat raw from screaming and his voice cracking on every other syllable.

To Stephen’s knowledge Peter had never lashed out while at the facility, so he paged Rhodey to talk to the boy.

Meanwhile, the nurses continued to hold Peter back and did not answer any of the accusations he screamed at the doctor, even though they both knew who the boy was referring to. ”Peter, just breathe for us, bud.” Thor said more gently now that Peter began crying.

Peter hated that Strange looked so nonchalant through all of this, like he didn’t care how much pain he had caused Peter by ratting on them. He had no energy left after trying one last time to force himself away from the wall, only to be pushed back with a little more force than before. He broke down into tears when his back hit the wall, his insults now becoming slurred and incomprehensible as crying made his jaw become slack. He finally dropped his gaze from the doctor entirely, now too disgusted to even look at him, and his mind switched off as the nurses continued to hold him against the wall despite the fact he was no longer struggling.

”You’re okay, Peter, you’re okay.” Thor said as he and Steve eased their grip on Peter, but still kept him pressed to the floor and kept hold of his arms.

”Can you page Rhodey?” Thor asked, turning to Stephen.

”He’s on his way.” Stephen replied, taking a step closer to Peter now. ”Peter, shall we go talk in a more civil manner when Rhodey arrives?” Stephen asked. He hadn’t ignored any of the things Peter had screamed at him, but he would much rather address it all in private.

”Shit, man.” Loki finally said after being quiet under the whole spectacle. ”What’s got you so fucked up, puppy eyes?” He asked, causing the nurses to shoot him a stern look.

”Loki, head to the canteen.” Steve instructed.

Peter’s chest heaved as he panted for air, his eyes still locked to the floor. At the sound of Strange’s voice, Peter flinched. “D-Don’t fucking talk to me. I don’t want to talk to any of you.” He muttered, his shoulders shaking after the effort of trying to push two fully grown, 200lb men off of him. Loki’s voice was what caused him to look up, and the two boys locked eyes. He had completely forgotten that Loki was even there to witness what had happened. Peter didn’t respond, but pulled a face of desperation to let Loki know that he didn’t want him to go. He was the only one he could trust at that moment, and the thought of that made more tears spring to his eyes.

Stephen was about to argue with Peter, but then Rhodey showed up from down the hall. Loki stepped aside to let him come up to Peter.

”Peter, what’s going on here?” The doctor asked, gesturing for the nurses to let him go. But, Steve and Thor both remained alert and ready to grab Peter again if they needed to.

Peter gladly yanked his arms away from the nurses when they dropped them, rubbing his arms out and stretching them. “Nothing.” He lied poorly, his gaze now fixed on the ground so that he didn’t have to look at anyone. “I don’t want to talk to you.” He said quietly, becoming increasingly antsy and fidgety where he stood. He wasn’t going to attack anybody again, but the desire to run was building in his chest.

”He hit Strange.” Steve said plainly when Peter didn’t say it himself.

”Went full maniac on the guy, like a wild animal.” Loki added with a snicker, causing all four staff members to shoot him a disapproving look.

”Loki, canteen, now.” Thor said and the boy finally obeyed with a huff.

”Well, if you’re attacking people then you must have something to say.” Rhodey pointed out to Peter. ”We’ll go talk in my office, Peter.” The doctor decided rather than asked and gestured for the nurses to bring him. Steve and Thor each took a hold of Peter’s upper arms.

Peter was barely paying attention to the conversation happening, his thoughts like thick sludge as he stared at the floor. When his arms were suddenly taken hold of, that seemed to snap Peter out of his odd reverie and he began to protest. “No... no, no, no, let go of me! Let go of me! No!” He cried out, pulling his arms towards himself to try and slip them out of the nurse’s grasp. “Don’t wanna talk, let me go! Let me go, let me fucking go! No, no, no, don’t touch me!” He began yelling once more, even despite his tired state from fighting before.

”Peter, you clearly have something to say, so lets go talk about it. We’ll listen to whatever you have to say.” Steve explained and Rhodey nodded along. They had only gotten a few steps down the hall, but they stopped once Peter began fighting again.

“No, don’t wanna… don’t wanna talk to you…!” Peter shook his head, his whole body sagging when he realised that fighting got him nowhere. He offered little resistance after that, but the nurses still had his arms in a tight grip as they brought him to Rhodey’s office. His face was screwed up as he thought about Tony, how Strange had betrayed them both and how Tony must be feeling at the moment.

Gesturing for Stephen to come along, Rhodey led the way to his office. ”Peter, sit down.” Rhodey said as the nurses let him go. Thor headed out of the office and closed the door behind him, leaving Rhodey and Stephen sitting opposite Steve and Peter.

Peter knew by the tone of the doctor’s voice that there was little room to protest, and so reluctantly sunk into the seat offered to him. When Stephen and Steve both sat down as well, he looked confused. “W-What’re _they_  doing here? I-I-I don’t wanna talk to them, i-if I have to talk at all then- then I wanna talk to you.” He said, gesturing to Rhodey with a minute jerk of his head.

”You hit me, Peter, we have to resolve this.” Stephen pointed out and Rhodey nodded in agreement. ”If you promise to try your best to stay civil, then Steve can leave.” Rhodey added and they all turned to Peter to hear whether he would agree.

“N-No.” Peter shook his head, and already he could feel himself tearing up. He didn’t even want to look at Strange, instead choosing to look down at his hands. “I-I don’t have anything to say to you. You l-lost that chance.” He mumbled, wringing his hands in his lap.

When Peter didn’t show any obvious signs of resistance, Steve got up and left the office quietly after getting a signal from Rhodey to do so. ”Peter, I heard everything you said in the hall, but I didn’t want us to have that conversation out there like that. It’s better to have it here.” Stephen explained. ”Do you know why I went to the police after seeing you at Stark’s home?” He asked gently.

At the mention of Tony’s name, Peter squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. “I said I don’t want to talk about it.” He muttered under his breath, though he knew that it would have little effect on stopping the conversation. He kept his head bowed and his feet drawn in under the chair, making his body language as small as possible like he was suddenly going to curl up into a ball and vanish.

”I had to do it, Peter. What Stark did was wrong. He never should have invited you to his home because it violates the guidelines we have on patient contact. It’s professional misconduct and it’s a serious offence.” Stephen explained.

”Strange is right, Peter, he had no choice but to report Stark.” Rhodey added.

Peter shook his head hopelessly, still not looking up at either of the doctors sat across from him. “Wasn’t wrong. ‘s not his fault.” He said quietly, repeating the mantra that was stopping him from going completely insane. Or maybe he was going insane by even thinking about it, he wasn’t sure. He sniffed and withdrew his hands into his sleeves to wipe at his face, but he knew that he’d just start crying again.

”What do you mean?” Stephen asked as he became quite curious to know more. Meanwhile, Rhodey sat back in his seat as he had already talked about this with the boy during their session earlier.

Peter grimaced. It was like déjà vu, and he wondered how many times he would have to retell this story. “I _mean_ , I-I started it. He… He always cared about his job. It- It was _all_  he cared about. The- The only reason this happened was because I wanted it. H-He didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, rubbing at his face again.

”How did you start it?” Stephen asked further, but did not comment on how Peter was right about Tony caring about his job and his profession. But, not enough to follow guidelines it seemed.

Peter let out a quiet, almost inperceptible whine of embarrassment. “I-I kissed him. During a medical exam. He- _I_  kissed _him_.” He admitted, his hands now beginning to shake with nerves. “He w-was so worried about his job, a-and he said he was g-gonna refer me to somebody else, but I b-begged him not to. That’s the only reason he didn’t, i-if I hadn’t begged for him not to, he w-would’ve immediately transferred me. He _cared_ about his job.”

”He what?” Rhodey asked, letting his professionalism slip for just a moment. Stephen looked equally shocked.

”When was this?” Stephen asked. ”Have you told anyone else about this? The police?”

“It was...” Peter had now gotten the courage to lift his head. He wasn’t looking either of the doctor’s in the face, instead staring at a fixed point over Rhodey’s shoulder. “I think it was the second week of my three weeks here.” He said, scrunching his face up as he tried to remember. “I- I didn’t tell anybody, because nobody wanted to hear about it. They were insistent that _I_  was the victim, but... I was the one that st-started it. He was going to transfer me, but the last time that happened, I-I fell into relapse. I n-needed him. Need him.” He said finally, sighing heavily like it was a weight off of his shoulders.

Stephen and Rhodey considered what Peter was saying by sharing a look. The boy seemed to be telling the truth and it would be very important for Tony’s case. ”Have you talked to the police yet? And have you thought about pressing charges?” Rhodey asked.

 “Other than the officer that came into my apartment the day after... it happened? No. And I’m not pressing charges, he hasn’t done anything wrong.” Peter said, getting slightly annoyed at the repeated questions of charges. Tony hadn’t done anything to him, and Peter refused to change his mind about that.

”Well, like you said, most assume that you are the victim.” Rhodey started as he sat back in his seat again. ”But, I believe you when you say you aren’t, Peter.” He added, causing Stephen to turn to his coworker.

”He’s barely an adult with attachment issues, Stark’s a grown man with the power in their relationship.” Stephen pointed out.

”Peter can speak for himself and I believe him. Why would he lie about this?” Rhodey argued back. Stephen was about to say something, but then realised he didn’t have a good counter argument and nodded to show that he agreed.

Peter looked from doctor to doctor quickly, watching them debate. He opened his mouth to argue Strange’s point, but Rhodey got in before him and Peter simply shut his mouth again. “I-I wouldn’t lie. I’m not lying. Tony-“ The boy chewed down on his bottom lip, thinking of what to say. “Tony would never want to j-jeopardise his job. That- That was what we argued about most often, the fact that he only cared about his job. _I_  was the one that made him go... made him act differently.”

”But, even if you tell a judge that, the case still looks terrible for Stark.” Stephen sighed a little. ”Even if you initiated contact in private, Tony is still responsible for that happening. He should have stopped it.”

Rhodey hummed as he considered Stephen’s point. ”So, why didn’t he stop?” Rhodey asked and turned to Peter for an answer.

Peter shrugged. “He knew I needed him. When May got s-stabbed, I didn’t have anyone else to call except him. He told me himself that he was only taking care of me to make sure I ate and took my meds. We barely spent any time together during the day.” He said, his hands fumbling as he remembered how Tony had been adamant on his mindset that he was simply making sure Peter stayed healthy while May was in hospital.

”I see.” Rhodey nodded while Stephen chuckled a little.

”That makes quite a lot of sense actually.” Stephen said and then added after both Rhodey and Peter gave him puzzled looks. ”I was sort of surprised how well you seemed while your aunt was hospitalised. Most people in your situations gets pretty worked up about it. So, you stayed at Stark’s throughout her stay at the hospital?” He asked just to be sure they got the timeline right.

Peter nodded at that. “Mhm. She was there for 8 days, and I stayed with him for 7. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have made the 8 days between her going into hospital and her coming out.” He said. He still wasn’t happy with Strange, not in the slightest, but found that he could look at him again.

”Hmm, I see.” Stephen nodded and so did Rhodey. Both doctors were starting to question their thoughts on Tony. Perhaps they had been too quick to judge him. ”And what happened during those days?” Rhodey asked.

Peter glanced at Rhodey, and then at the floor. “Like I said, he was at work every day so I barely saw him. I’d either go out and see my friends, or I’d go to Strange’s sessions. If I _was_  at his house, usually I would just watch Netflix.” He said, tapping his fingertips against his knees. “I managed to hook up my games console to his TV one day, so I spent some time doing that as well.”

”Did you spend the night there too?” Rhodey asked and when Peter nodded a little, he added. ”And what happened then? Because then Stark was at home too, right?”

Uh oh. “Uhm, we’d cook dinner together ‘n... ‘n talk, ‘n...” Peter trailed off, his eyes glancing to the side as a guilty blush crept up his cheeks and stained them a bright pink. He prayed that the doctor’s wouldn’t ask for specific detail, otherwise Peter had a feeling he would die right in that very chair.

”And what?” Stephen asked. Both doctors noticed how flustered Peter became all of a sudden.

“‘s none of your business!” The boy squeaked, pulling his hood over his head to hide his face from the gaze of the two doctors. “We- We did stuff, once or twice. I- He- He never made me do anything I didn’t want to, though.” He admitted quickly, his face burning up.

”What kind of stuff did you do exactly?” Rhodey asked calmly. Meanwhile, Stephen already had a strong feeling of what Peter was referring to and although it was years ago that he had been with Tony, he couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of the boy.

 “I- He- Uhm...” Peter felt like he had swallowed his tongue, the embarrassment of having to admit the few sex acts he had done with Tony really beginning to get to him. “W-We would kiss a lot. And he touched me.” He said timidly, shrinking back into the chair. “I wanted him to, though. And then one time I-“ Peter shut his mouth at that, too nervous to keep talking.

 _Oh God. What the fuck, Tony?_ Stephen thought to himself as he watched the boy squirm in his seat.

”Then one time?” Rhodey asked.

Peter shook his head quickly, too humiliated to continue talking. He remembered it as clear as day, though, the way that Tony’s pupils went blown as he watched Peter sink to his knees after the boy had been spanked within an inch of his life. It made him shiver momentarily, but he still refused to say what it was. “N-Nothing.”

”Peter, did Tony force himself on you?” Stephen asked, sitting up in his seat as he studied the boy closely. ”If he did, you must tell the police.”

Peter shook his head again. “No! I-I wanted to do it. He never forced anything, I promise.” He said clearly, glancing up at the doctor briefly before looking back down again. “‘s just embarrassing to... to say out loud.” He said quietly.

Stephen was about to ask more, but Rhodey interrupted him. ”Okay, Peter, we believe you.” Rhodey said with a little hint of a smile. ”But, this makes it all much more serious than we originally thought. I think we should arrange for the police to come here, so that you can tell them what you just told us.”

Peter’s face drained of colour at that. “N-No, please! I-I-I don’t wanna talk to them, th-they already think I’m the victim, they’ll try ‘n say he... that he did shit to me! I-I don’t want them here.” He panicked, shaking his head at the thought of having to speak to the police again.

”They won’t think that if you tell them what you just told us. If you wish, one of us can stay with you and make sure the officers listen to you.” Rhodey offered and Stephen nodded in agreement.

“I-I don’t wanna tell them anything! Th-They’ll just think he’s a weirdo, b-but I’m 18 ‘n I wanted it!” Peter whimpered, beginning to panic again. He didn’t want to have this conversation any more, wanted to get up and leave. He began fidgeting in his seat, squirming in place as he tried to resist the urge to make a break for it.

”Okay, okay.” Rhodey said, holding up his hands in surrender when Peter only grew more and more restless. ”It’s all up to you. I just need to make sure you know that we can arrange for the police to come here so that you can make a statement. But, only if you want to.” He added.

Peter huffed, slumping down in his seat. “Don’t want them here…” He mumbled, cracking his knuckles nervously as his eyes darted around the room. After a few moments of silence, he glanced up at Rhodey’s face. “A-Are we done now?”

After considering for a few seconds, Rhodey nodded. ”Yeah, you can go now.” He allowed, but both of the doctors remained in their seats while the boy sprang up from his. ”Just one more thing, Peter.” Rhodey said when Peter was by the door.

Peter had never been so glad to hear those words. He immediately got up off the chair and headed towards the door, but as his hand touched the doorknob, Rhodey’s voice made him look back. “Huh?”

”Don’t punch a member of staff again.” Rhodey said with a little chuckle. Stephen gave the boy a smile despite the absurd situation.

Peter didn’t know how to respond to that. He hesitated for a moment, blinking owlishly, before turning and slipping out of the office and shutting the door quietly behind him. 


	81. 81

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter explains the story to loki.

Peter spent the rest of the day by himself in his room, and the next morning he intended to do the same thing. He went to the canteen to eat breakfast by himself as quickly as possible, too embarrassed to even face any of the staff, before heading back to his room and closing the door behind him. He sat on his bed reading, but the thoughts of the police possibly coming in distracted him.

Loki did not dare approach Peter in the canteen during breakfast. The boy still looked very much like a thundercloud, ready to cause havoc any second. So, instead Loki stuck to Harley who was much better company. But, when Harley went to have his session, Loki was left alone with no one, so he eventually went to Peter’s room. He knocked on the door before heading in. ”Yo, puppy eyes.” He greeted with a grin.

Peter’s head flew up when he heard a knock on the door, and for a brief second he was terrified that it was a member of staff, or worse a police officer. When Loki poked his head through the door, Peter visibly relaxed against the wall he was sitting again. “Oh, it’s just you, greaseball. Hi.” He said quietly, blushing at how Loki grinned at him so easily even despite what had happened yesterday. “What, uh, what brings you here?”

”Nothing much.” Loki said casually as he walked into the room and went to sit down on the chair. ”You looked super grumpy during breakfast.” He pointed out, lifting his feet to rest on the bedframe.

 “Yeah, I uh... I didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Peter lied, cringing at himself. Well, technically it was true as he had been tossing and turning for the second night in a row with nightmares about seeing Tony behind bars, and the staff of the facility pressing charges against him without Peter’s consent. He knew that that wasn’t what Loki was referring to, though, and sighed softly as he waited for the inevitable question.

”So, what was yesterday about? Attacking Strange and calling him out like that?” Loki asked, unable to hold back his curiosity any longer.

And there it was. Peter sighed again, but decided to be honest with Loki. “It- It’s a long story, but it’s to do with... to do with Stark’s leave. I know why he left. It’s-“ Peter chewed down on his lip, feeling anxiety build in his chest, but pushed through it. “It’s cos of me.”

”What the fuck do you mean?” Loki asked with a laugh, not quite believing Peter yet. The boy scooted closer on the chair to hear better.

Peter scrunched his nose up at Loki’s laugh, huffing an annoyed breath. “Look, if I tell you what happened, you... you gotta promise you won’t make fun of me, _or_  tell anybody. This is really important, Lo, you gotta promise.” He said, holding out his pinky finger to the boy.

Loki narrowed his eyes as he considered what Peter was saying before bringing his hand up to do the pinky promise. ”Okay, okay, just tell me already.” He whined a little, scooting as close as possible that he could get with the chair.

Peter felt a little bit relieved when Loki linked pinkies with him, and took a deep breath. “So, uhm... you know how I had a stupidly big crush on him, like, the whole time I was here? It... it turns out that he felt the same.” He admitted, his cheeks turning bright red.

” _What?_ ” Loki exclaimed, tipping dangerously on his chair before finding his balance again. ”He felt the same for you? And told you about it?”

Peter squeaked in surprise when Loki tipped in his chair, flinging an arm out to grab him in case he fell. When he was sure the boy was steady, he let go. “Y-Yeah, he did. I told him I liked him while I was regressed one time, ‘n I got really upset cos I thought he didn’t like me back, so I avoided him for like a day... but then I had a medical exam with him, and... and I kissed him.”

” _What the fuck?!_ ” Loki shrieked with laughter, throwing his head back as he howled with laughter. But, when he saw that Peter remained completely serious and not amused at all, he fell silent and cleared his throat. ”But, that's professional misconduct. They’re not supposed to do that.” He pointed out until it all clicked in his head. ”That’s why he’s on leave? Did he lose his license?”

Peter waited awkwardly for Loki to stop laughing, and nodded at his question. “A bunch of other stuff happened too. My aunt, she... she got put into hospital and I didn’t know what to do, so I called him. He let me stay at his house for a week.” He admitted, not quite meeting Loki’s gaze.

”Oh my God.” Loki gasped. ”Oh my God!” He repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. ”What did you do with him? Did you kiss him again?”

 “Y-Yeah. And a couple of times, we... we did more than that.” Peter replied vaguely, his face burning up in embarrassment. “One time he, uhm, he j-jacked me off, and then another time I...” Peter covered his face with his hands at this point. “I sucked his dick.”

Loki’s jaw was on the floor at this point. ”You’re fucking with me.” He said as he got up from his chair to pace the room. ”I mean, Stark! Stark who loves his job more than himself. Why would he do that?” Loki pondered aloud as he scratched his head.

 “I’m not! He- He was spanking me, ‘n then he got me off and I wanted to return the favour.” Peter said quickly, watching Loki pace up and down the room. “I dunno. He said one time that... that he wanted to love me. I didn’t know I meant that much to him.” He said quietly, shuffling to lie down on his bed and look up at the ceiling.

”So, you did get a boner from the spanking! I knew it!” Loki laughed, skipping a bit as he paced the room before turning to Peter with a shit eating grin.

 “Hey!” Peter squealed in indignation, grabbing his pillow off the bed and hurling it in Loki’s direction. “F-Fine, maybe I did! He kept teasing me about it, ‘s not fair!” He groaned, covering his face with his hands again. For the first time since everything had happened, he felt like laughing. Loki had an odd effect on him, made him see the humour in things, so he guessed he was grateful for that. “He didn’t even touch me there when... never mind, I’m gonna stop talking!” He said, his voice getting high pitched.

Loki just laughed harder when he watched Peter squirm. He grabbed the pillow and held onto it as he doubled over with laughter. ”It’s too fucking good to be true, I swear to God!” Loki howled before gasping for air, but he still couldn’t catch his breath properly because he couldn’t help but giggle at the look on Peter’s face.

Peter scrunched his face up in annoyance as Loki continued to laugh, and once the boy seemed to have settled down, he relaxed his face. “A ton of shit’s happened, dude... a-and now he’s gotten arrested and he’s gonna lose his license, and I dunno what to do.” He mumbled, looking back up at the ceiling from where he was laying across his bed.

”Arrested? How do you know?” Loki asked as the seriousness of the situation finally got to his head. He went to sit back down and stopped with the hysterical laughter. ”I mean, there’s nothing you can do while locked up here.” He added with a shrug.

“They told me. A police officer came to my house ‘n said he had been arrested for professional misconduct, and a bunch of other shit I didn’t catch.” Peter left out the part where he had immediately passed out on hearing that Tony had been arrested. Loki didn’t need to know that. “I know there isn’t, and that’s why I’m pissed. I just… People keep telling me to press charges, but I don’t _want_  to. He’s not done anything wrong.”

”Hmm.” Loki hummed as he thought about the whole situation. After a moment of silence, the boy spoke up again. ”How big is his cock?”

“Wh- _Seriously_ , Loki?!” Peter spluttered, grabbing the pillow from where Loki had left it on the floor and hitting the other boy over the head with it. “ _That’s_  what you’re asking me, for real?” He asked incredulously, his face a mix of amused, mortified and slightly offended.

”I just-” Loki started, but then burst into laughter again when Peter started hitting him. He put his hands up to shield himself. ”I mean- I’m curious! He’s an asshole, sure, but he’s handsome and I wanna know how big his cock is.”

Peter groaned and hit the boy one last time with his pillow before throwing it to one side. “He- He _is_  handsome. And, uhm, it was big. Very big. I-I couldn’t get it, you know… all the way in.” He said, blushing brightly at the memory of struggling to take all of Tony’s dick in his mouth, and the doctor petting him gently and cooing praise from above him.

”Ahhh!” Loki shrieked and threw his head back as he squealed. ”You got fucked by Stark? How the fuck did you manage that? Like- you must have been worth losing a license for...” The boy said, his eyes widening in realisation before he snorted and made a dismissing hand gesture. ”Shut the fuck up already! I don’t know how much more I can take of this.” He said, turning more suspicious again. It all seemed too bizarre.

“No, no, no! H-He didn’t fuck me, I-I just sucked his dick. I told you!” Peter said, sitting up on the bed to look at Loki. “I-I didn’t _think_  I was worth losing a license for, but… but Tony said he w-wanted to protect me, ‘n…” He trailed off, looking down at his hands as he suddenly became nervous with thoughts about Tony.

”Oh, that’s just details.” Loki shrugged on whether Peter was fucked by Stark or not. ”But, shit man... But, wait-” Loki said before narrowing his eyes at Peter. ”When did all this happen? Was it when you were still here?”

“Some of it. Like, uhm, our first kiss was during a medical exam in my second week, ‘n… we would make out sometimes during our sessions.” Every session. Peter could remember it like it was yesterday, the way that he and Tony couldn’t keep their hands off each other. “But it never went further than that while I was here.”

”And you didn’t tell me about any of it?” Loki exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. ”Why did you wait till now?”

“I-I didn’t know how you’d react! And I was scared that someone would overhear us and find out! It was too risky to talk about it then, dude.” Peter replied, also throwing his hands in the air in a similar fashion. “I’m sorry I kept it from you. It was just too dangerous to talk about.”

”Someone might overhear us now.” Loki pointed out, glancing to the closed door. ”But, everyone will know eventually. Cause there’s gonna be a trial, right? The state versus Tony Stark.” He added.

 “A trial? Oh, shit...” Peter mumbled, realising that yes, if Tony was arrested that meant he was due to have a trial, probably soon. “Do you think I’ll have to be part of it? Key witness or something?” He asked, looking over to see Loki’s face scrunched up in deep thought.

”I mean, probably.” Loki shrugged. ”Do you know anyone else who might have had the same thing going on with Stark?”

Peter thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “No, he never mentioned anyone else. He- I hope he didn’t, anyway.” He said, becoming aware of a mild feeling of hypothetical possessiveness stirring in him. He didn’t like the idea of Tony seeing multiple people, as not only would that make his case worse, but it made Peter feel jealous.

”Hmm.” Loki hummed as he thought about the whole situation again. ”You’re going to court in a straightjacket.” He snorted. ”Quite a fashion statement.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Shut it, greaseball.” He grumbled affectionately, before pausing. They aren’t actually gonna make him show up in a straight jacket, are they? He shook his head to himself, knowing the idea was stupid, before looking back at his friend. “If I do go, it’ll be the first time I’ve seen Tony since all this shit happened. I... I can’t imagine what he looks like. What if he’s already been in a jail cell?” He asked.

”I mean, they don’t exactly keep people in custody in five star hotels and shit.” Loki snorted before adding. ”Can’t imagine what he looks like with an unkept beard.”

Before Loki could make more jokes, there was a knock at the door and Steve poked his head through. ”Thought I’d find you two here.” The nurse smiled.

Custody… Peter couldn’t begin to imagine how terrifying that must be. His attention was drawn to the door when he heard someone knocking, and he lifted his head to see Steve poking his head into the room. “Oh, hey Rogers.” Peter waved, a quick warning glance at Loki so that he didn’t say anything about what they were just talking about.

”Time for your session, Peter.” Steve said, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. ”Shall we head over?” He asked.

Loki spun in his chair to face Peter with a knowing smile.

“I guess…” Peter mumbled, sitting up properly and swinging his legs off the bed so he could stand. As he did so, he shoved the side of Loki’s head with his fingertips exasperatedly. “Keep your mouth shut, Lo.” He said to the boy under his breath. He didn’t need Loki running around telling the whole facility about how Peter had Tony’s dick in his mouth.

Shoving at Peter’s hand, Loki grinned and got up from his chair. ”Have fun.” Loki giggled before heading out of the room to see if he could find Harley.


	82. 82

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another session with rhodey.

”So, how are you today?” Steve asked once he and Peter were alone in the hall, heading to the doctors’ offices.

Peter bit his lip as he watched Loki go, and he prayed that the boy wouldn’t say anything. “I’m, uh, I’m okay.” He said, slightly distracted until his friend had disappeared behind the corner. “I had breakfast and then Lo came to my room, so we were just talkin’ the whole time.” He said, glancing up at Steve briefly.

”That sounds like a good time. Is Loki a good friend to you?” Steve asked as they continued walking down the hall.

“Mhm. I tell him stuff I don’t tell anyone else. He’s… He gets it, you know?” Peter said. “Sometimes he’s a bit annoying, but I just annoy him back and we’re all good.” He said lightly, biting back a grin at the thought of poking fun at Loki about his crush.

”That’s most friendships, isn’t it?” Steve chuckled, glad to hear that Peter had someone else then just his doctor to talk to. Despite how well trained Rhodey may be, talking with a boy within his own age range could do Peter more good than an hour with the doctor. ”Here we are.” The nurse announced and after knocking on the door, he opened it and let Peter in.

Peter simply shrugged at that, unbothered, and raised his hand in a small wave when the nurse let him into Rhodey’s office. He took a few steps in, and headed to the seat he sat in the last time. “Hi.” He said quietly to the doctor, still slightly embarrassed over what had happened yesterday.

”Morning, Peter.” Rhodey smiled, watching as Peter nervously entered his office. He didn’t expect anything else from the boy considering what they had talked about last time they had seen one another. ”So, how are you?” The doctor started simply.

Peter offered a small, close lipped smile when Rhodey greeted him. “‘m okay. Me ‘n Loki hung out this morning in my room, which was nice.” He said, pulling his legs up to cross them in a pretzel shape on the seat of the chair.

”Nice, you saw? Tell me more.” Rhodey prompted, moving to seat opposite his patient.

Peter nodded. “He’s just nice to have around. He hates me complimenting him like this cos he, uh, he doesn’t wanna seem approachable or friendly by the staff, but he and I are really good friends. He’s the only friend I have in here.” He said, tapping his fingertips against his knees. “It’s just nice to talk to him about stuff, cos I know he’ll understand better than other people I know.”

”I see.” Rhodey nodded. ”Do you tell him everything? Or do you leave some things out?” He asked, curious to know if Peter had told Loki about everything with with Tony.

 “Kinda depends what we’re talkin’ about. I usually tell him everything, though.” Peter hummed, absentmindedly scratching his jaw. “He, uhm... He saw what happened yesterday, so I had to tell him about it cos it’s not like I could pretend nothing happened.” He mumbled.

”What did you tell him?” Rhodey asked, resting his chin against his knuckles as he listened to Peter.

 _A hell of a lot more than what I told you_ , Peter thought to himself. “Uhm... I explained that Stark got arrested cos of p-professional misconduct, and... and how Strange had been the one to report him, which is why I was mad at him.” He said, then thought for a second. “I-Is Stark gonna have a trial?” He asked suddenly.

Rhodey was glad to hear Peter had someone to talk to about the whole situation, but didn’t know if Loki was the best one to do it with. The raven haired boy had a taste for drama. ”Yes, the state is taking him to court due to the misconduct alligations made by Strange. You will most likely have to testify.” Rhodey explained, giving Peter a little comforting smile, but doubted it helped much.

Peter squirmed uncomfortably in his seat upon hearing that. So Loki was right. “When will that be?” He asked. If a trial was going to take place, that meant he would see Tony again, possibly for the last time. His heart ached in his chest, but he tried not to let that show on his face.

”I am not sure, I do not know all the details, but within the next month or two I would imagine.” Rhodey said and waited to see what Peter would have to say about that.

 “Month?” Peter repeated, his face becoming worried. “That’s... that’s a while, but like it isn’t in law stuff, I guess...” He said, mostly to himself. “And, uhm, Lo said that he’d have his license revoked. Has that already happened, or..?”

”Yeah, these things take a while.” Rhodey said with a little shrug. ”It has been frozen temporarily till the trial is over and then depending on what the jury decides, then he may get it back or lose it for good.” The doctor explained.

A cold wave of guilt washed over Peter at that. The fact that _he_  was the reason that Tony could (and probably would) lose his license had been gnawing at him the entire time he had been at the facility, but now it had completely overtaken all other emotions, and he slumped in his chair. “Oh.” He said quietly.

”How does that make you feel?” Rhodey asked, seeing Peter slump in his seat like he was heavily weighed down by something.

“Like it’s my fault.” Peter said simply. “I mean, it is. I-I started this whole thing, if I hadn’t… if I hadn’t done what I did, then he would still be here working. He- He loved this job, and it’s my fault that he’s lost it. It makes me feel like shit for being so selfish.”

”Selfish?” Rhodey asked, gesturing for Peter to elaborate.

“Yeah. It’s just… I sh-shouldn’t have prioritised my own feelings over his job security. I would get mad at him for treating me like a patient, but… he was doing it to protect himself, ‘n I forced him not to. I shouldn’t have done that. ‘s my fault.” Peter said, closing his eyes as he spoke so that he didn’t have to look at anything.

”Forced him?” Rhodey asked, having a hard time believing that Peter could force Tony to do such things. But, that meant that Tony felt for Peter in a romantic way too to allow their relationship to evolve. Rhodey didn’t know whether he liked that over the alternative of Tony being so passive and spineless to let a teenager dictate him.

 “Yeah, that’s- that’s how I see it. I know he liked me, but... he was trying not to let it affect him too much, so he continued treating me like one of his patients. I-I got upset about it, so he promised he wouldn’t do it any more.” Peter said, opening his eyes and looking down at his hands, where he was beginning to crack his knuckles again.

”Hmm. Why do you think he did that?” Rhodey asked, although Peter had already said that Tony did it because he liked Peter too. The doctor was having a hard time believing all that.

 “I dunno.” Peter shrugged. A part of him wanted to share the fact that Tony said he had loved him, but he decided not to at the last second. It was one thing saying it to Loki, but another thing entirely to say it to Rhodey. Sharing that memory felt like he was giving it away, when in reality it was precious to him. He wanted to keep it closely guarded to his chest, and so he didn’t mention it. “Like I said, he liked me too.”

”Hmm.” Rhodey hummed and nodded, waiting to see if Peter would say more.

 “I-I guess I didn’t realise he liked me enough to consider losing his license for it.” Peter mumbled, gazing at the floor. He couldn’t quite believe it, in all honesty. He could feel himself getting upset, but he didn’t cry. Instead, he simply stared vacantly at the floor, his mind both loud with thoughts and deadly silent at the same time.

It seemed Peter had said all that was on his mind, so Rhodey scooted forwards in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. ”Peter, what Stark did was illegal. Do you understand that? I am not saying what you feel towards him is wrong, but I am saying that what Stark did was wrong.” He explained, pausing to see if Peter would have something to say.

Peter flinched when Rhodey spoke, not liking where the conversation was headed. “I know. I’m not an idiot. I-I just wish it wasn’t. He- He said he cared about me, that he wanted to protect me.” He said quietly, not looking the doctor in the face.

”Good, good. I just needed to make sure you knew. Whatever you feel about the situation is okay and we can talk about it. It is all okay here, but in front of the law, what Stark did was not okay. I just need to make sure you understand that.” Rhodey explained further.

“So… if I have to go up in court, I have to say that it was wrong? Even if I don’t think it was?” Peter asked, feeling more and more hopeless with every second. “That’s such bullshit…” He grumbled, sighing heavily through his nose.

”No, you don’t have to say that it was wrong. You just have to tell the truth. Your truth.” Rhodey clarified. ”You can tell the court that you felt for Stark and then they will decide what to do with that knowledge.”

Peter didn’t say anything in response to that, simply sat in deep thought. In his mind’s eye, he saw himself standing in a courtroom in a straightjacket (he hated Loki for putting that particular imagery in his head) as he tries to convince the jury to let Tony go free. He couldn’t even picture Tony, the thought of that too distressing for him.

”You can tell them what you have told me.” Rhodey added when Peter did not speak.

“Right…” Peter mumbled, but didn’t look up from the floor. He knew that what he would say probably wouldn’t be enough, and that it was likely his words would be twisted, or his vulnerability exaggerated so that Tony lost his licence. He sighed, and raised a hand to rub tiredly at his eyes. “Can we… talk about something else now?”

”Of course. What would you like to talk about?” Rhodey asked, more than happy to move one once he had cleared up some of the most important facts with Tony's case.

Peter thought for a moment. If they weren’t talking about Tony, what was there to talk about? He eventually settled for mentioning something about his meds, and from there he and Rhodey spent the rest of the hour talking about his recovery over the last few months, and comparing his current stay at the facility to his last two. The entire time, though, Peter’s thoughts found themselves wandering back to his old doctor, and he had the sinking feeling that he would have to deal with that for quite some time.


	83. 83

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter has a visitor.

Two weeks came and went without much trouble. After Peter’s initial freakout, he found that the staff were keeping a much closer eye on him than before. He didn’t particularly care, though, seeing as he entirely avoided Strange on the rare occasions that he saw him, and spent most of his time in either his or Loki’s room. He also got to know Harley, and together the three of them had formed a tightly-knit group at mealtimes and free-time. Peter was still nervous about what had happened to Tony, but with two weeks and no mention of a trial, he was starting to think it would never happen.

Looking at his beeping pager, Bucky saw that Rhodey had asked him to bring Peter to his office. The nurse went to fulfill the task right away and headed to Peter’s room. He knocked on the half ajar door twice before entering. ”Hey, buddy, Rhodey wants to see you in his office.” When the boy gave him a puzzled look, the nurse added. ”It’s not your usual session, but something else.”

Peter was in the middle of telling a story to Harley when the knock on the door came, and both boys looked up to see Barnes looking through the door at them. “Oh…” Peter furrowed his brow in confusion, but simply shrugged and gestured for Harley to follow him in getting off the bed. The two of them left his room, and Peter waved a quick goodbye to the other boy before following Bucky to Rhodey’s office. “What’s it about?”

”Rhodey will tell you about it.” Bucky replied simply, giving Peter a smile as they walked down the hall. Once by Rhodey’s office door, Bucky knocked twice and opened it after getting an invite from the doctor. Inside the office, Rhodey was stood next to a police officer.

Peter raised his eyebrows momentarily at that, but didn’t argue as they approached Rhodey’s door. At the offer, he stepped inside but immediately came to a halt at the sight of the police officer. “I-I thought I told you I didn’t wanna… What’s going on?” He asked, his blood running cold.

After introducing himself shortly, the officer adjusted his grip on the envelope in his hand. ”Are you Peter Benjamin Parker?” The officer asked.

“Yes…?” Peter replied in a questioning tone of voice - not because he was uncertain of who he was, but because he was uncertain as to why the officer was here. “That’s me.” He nodded, his eyes flickering between Rhodey and the police officer.

”You are expected to show up in court.” The officer stated and handed over the envelope to Peter.

Before the boy could open it, Rhodey spoke up. ”Peter, shall we sit down?”

Peter looked at the envelope, then back up at the officer, before taking it into trembling hands. He stared down at the envelope for what seemed like an eternity before Rhodey’s voice brought him out of his stupor. “Huh? Oh, right, sit- yeah, let’s... let’s sit, okay...” He stammered, immediately heading for the nearest seat and sitting in it before his knees could give in from nerves. “Is this...?” He trailed off, looking up at Rhodey.

”It’s about Stark, yes.” Rhodey confirmed as he moved to sit opposite Peter. The officer remained standing, his hands resting on his belt.

Peter gulped. His eyes flitted between the envelope, Rhodey and the police officer uneasily, and with shaky hands he slid a finger through the lip of the envelope and pried it open. He unfolded the document within, and read it. “Subpoena... for the case of the state of New York versus Tony Stark... two weeks from now?” He mumbled, looking up at the officer to confirm it.

”That’s correct.” The officer nodded. ”You are a key witness and both the defendant and public prosecutor want to question you in court.” He added.

 “...Both?” Peter frowned for a second, glancing over at Rhodey. Did that mean Tony wanted to see him in court? The thought of seeing him made him mildly sick, as it would be the first time in a month. “So... So I have to go to this, and then they just put me up at the front and ask the questions...? Do I have to do the thing where I put my hand on the Bible? Whole truth, only truth, that thing?” He realised that he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop himself.

”Yes, every witness has to swear to tell the truth before getting on the witness stand.” The officer explained. ”And it is punishable if one fails to show.” He added and Rhodey nodded with a smile.

”We’ll arrange for transport if you are still here when that date comes.” The doctor explained.

 “O-Okay. Right.” Peter nodded, his hands still trembling as he gripped the letter tightly. “So... so two weeks. Cool. Yep. Okay. Transport will be... will be nice, thanks.” He nodded at Rhodey. “I-Is that everything, then?”

”Yes, that is almost everything. But, do you have some questions for the officer?” Rhodey asked and gestured to the officer.

 “I-Is Tony okay?” Peter blurted out quickly, but then covered his mouth with his hands. “Sorry, that’s not... I shouldn’t have... sorry.” He mumbled, looking back down at his lap and avoiding the officer’s gaze. An embarrassed flush climbed up his face and he wished he had never opened his mouth to begin with.

”That’s fine.” The officer assured with a light chuckle and a wave of his hand. ”He is still in our custody and will continue to be so until the trial. He’s taken care of.” He added, sensing that the boy was worried about the man’s well being.

 “O-Okay.” Peter nodded. If the man was in custody, did that mean he was basically in jail already? Peter wanted to ask, but bit his tongue and didn’t say anything about it. “I-I don’t have any more questions, thank you.” He said quietly, then looking over to Rhodey for guidance.

”Then I’ll be on my way.” The officer said with a smile before heading to the door.

Once they were left alone, Rhodey turned to Peter. ”How are you doing, Peter?”

Peter watched the officer leave, and the second he did so the boy turned back around to stare at the letter in his hands. “So this is it? This is... this is the thing? I-I have to go to court and... and say everything that happened?” He asked, his leg bouncing against the floor with restless energy.

”Yes.” Rhodey nodded. ”You will have to swear an oath to tell the truth, so yes, you’ll have to tell everything.”

Peter let out a whine of despair and shrunk down in his seat, pulling the drawstrings of his hoodie so that the fabric scrunched up around his face and hid him from view. “That’s gonna be so scary...” he moaned. “I-Is Tony gonna be there too? Will I see him?” Realistically he knew that Tony was going to be there, but he still sought confirmation from the doctor.

”Yes, he will be sat with his lawyers in front of the judge, but I doubt you’ll be able to speak to him.” Rhodey said apologetically.

 “Okay...” Peter nodded slowly. The fact that they would see each other but not be allowed to speak to one another hurt him. He had no idea how he was going to deal with that, especially not in a crowded courtroom with everybody looking at him.

”But, depending on your recovery, you might be discharged from here. Do you have someone who can bring you to court and support you there?” Rhodey asked when Peter fell silent for a while.

 “Uhm... the only person I can think of is May, but I dunno if she’ll be able to drive cos she might still be recovering from her injury.” Peter said, slowly sitting up in his chair and letting his face poke out of the hoodie hole.

”Well, it is still two weeks till the trial. But, if you are still here when you are expected in court, one of us will come with you. Is there anyone you’d prefer?” Rhodey asked. ”You can also request one of the nurses if you are more comfortable with that.”

Peter hummed to himself, thinking about it. “Maybe... Maybe Barnes or Rogers? I-I don’t really mind, but if you’re letting me choose, then one of them please.” He asked politely, now sat properly.

”Then I’ll make sure one of them has time off to join you.” Rhodey said with a friendly smile. ”Do you have any other questions?”

 “Will I have to wear a suit? I’ve never... never done anything like this before, so...” Peter asked, fiddling with the drawstring of his hoodie. He wasn’t even sure he _had_  a suit, aside from maybe his old homecoming suit from a few years back,

”Yes, it is expected. Do you have one at home perhaps?” Rhodey asked.

 “I _think_  so? I’ll have to check.” Peter replied. “I, uh, don’t have any other questions now, that’s all I wanted to ask.”

”All right.” Rhodey nodded, shifting in his seat. ”If you have any other questions or would like to talk about this more, then don’t hesitate with coming to me or the other staff members.” He assured the boy. ”We’ll get you through this.” He added with a gentle smile.


	84. 84

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and steve prepare for the trial.

The following two weeks were the slowest Peter had ever experienced. It was almost as if time itself could sense the boy waiting for the trial, and so decided to taunt him  by making that time go as slowly as humanly possible. He was grateful for Loki and Harley, who were good distractions during the day, but even they couldn’t take all of his thoughts away from the idea of seeing Tony again. When the day came, Peter had woken up at 6am out of pure anxiety and couldn’t fall back asleep again. He was quiet at breakfast, but luckily Loki and Harley left him alone for the most part.

Rhodey had spent the day before prepping Peter for the trail and now he was prepping Steve to along with the boy to trial. The two staff members spent half an hour or so dicussing some important things to look out for, but still Steve felt like his task was clear. He was supposed to be there for Peter while he testified. Heading out of Rhodey’s office, the nurse went to the canteen to find Peter. ”Morning, Peter. So, you’re stuck with me today.” Steve joked with a smile as he moved to sit across from Peter.

Peter was eating his breakfast slower than usual, so the other two boys had left by the time Steve came to sit down. “H-Hey, Rogers.” He replied, smiling nervously as he prodded the last bits of cereal in his bowl with his spoon. “Hah, yeah… it was either you or your Disney princess-lookin’ other half.” He said lightly, glancing over to where Bucky was stood by the wall, chatting with another nurse. “Are you gonna be with me all day?”

”Yup! I’m your bodyguard for the day, you could say.” Steve chuckled. ”I’ll drive you back and forth and stay with you throughout.” The nurse assured.

“My bodyguard… Cool… Can I call you Jeeves?” Peter asked, but dissolved into quiet giggles at the look that the nurse gave him. “’m joking, ‘m joking. Should I start to get ready ‘n stuff, then?” He asked, pushing his cereal bowl away from him to indicate that he was finished.

”Yeah, go get suited up and I’ll go change too.” Steve said as he got up along with Peter. But, before the boy could disappear around the corner, the nurse stopped him. ”Hey, by the way, I talked to Rhodey and he thinks you should bring your stuffed animal along, in case you regress or need the comfort.” When Peter pulled a face and scrunched up his nose, Steve added. ”Just hide it in your bag, you don’t have to take it out unless you need it.”

At the mention of Spidey, Peter pulled a face. The idea of pulling out a stuffed animal in court was mortifying, and Peter was about to say what a dumb idea it was but was cut off by Steve’s explanation. “M’kay… I’ll be right back.” He said, before turning and heading to the East Wing. He went to his room and found his suit, which May had come in to give the staff the day before. She was working today, so she couldn’t be with him, and Peter felt a little sad at that. Pushing that thought out of his mind, he quickly got changed into it except for the tie, which he draped around his neck. He shoved Spidey into his backpack and headed back out of his room to the reception area, where he waited for Steve.

Once Peter headed off, so did Steve and went to go change out of his scrubs. He didn’t bring a suit like Peter, but he did dress up a little more nicely in a button up and sweater on top along with some slacks. He found Peter by the reception area like they had agreed. ”So, ready to go?” He asked with a smile, giving a thumbs up to Clint behind the desk who buzzed them out and unlocked the front door for them.

Peter stood up off the bench he had been sat on when Steve appeared, and followed him dutifully out of the reception area. The suit he was wearing was a little tight in some areas, due to it having been so long since he last wore it, but he didn’t particularly care. He jogged a few steps to catch up with the nurse as they approached his car, and headed around to the passengers seat with his backpack in front of him so that he could get in easily. “Do you get to leave the facility during working hours often?” He asked, out of sheer curiosity.

Starting the car, Steve rolled it out of the parking lot and onto the road to head to the city. He glanced over at Peter next to him at the question. ”Sometimes if it’s planned ahead, like a doctor’s appointment or dentist or something. Or like this, if a patient needs to be somewhere and thus needs a bodyguard.” The nurse explained, giving Peter a playful wink.

Peter strapped himself in and rested his head against the window as Steve began driving them into the city. He looked at the nurse out of the corner of his eye, and laughed at his wink. “You’d be the best bodyguard. All you need is one of those lil’ earpiece things, and a pair of sunglasses.” He rambled, looking back out of the window. “You’d be all “This way, Mr. Parker” while I’m being ushered to my private helicopter.” He snorted, his joking a clear mask of nerves.

Steve laughed out at that, genuinely humoured by Peter’s descriptions. ”And then people wouldn’t be allowed to talk directly to you, right? They’d have to go through me first.” The nurse added to their shared alternate universe. Steve hoped it would distract the boy and get a laugh out of him before they reached the court and the nerves kicked in.

“Yeah, yeah!” Peter giggled, finding his nerves very slowly dissipating as he and Steve joked around. “Have you ever heard that game, ‘Get down, Mr. President!’?” He asked the nurse, and at the man’s confused face, he started to explain. “Basically, you gotta get a group of people, right? And you know the thing that the bodyguards do where they press their fingers to their earpieces like they hear something? If one person in the group does it, everyone has to start doing it. If you’re the last person to notice it happening, everybody else has to shout ‘GET DOWN, MR. PRESIDENT!’ and then tackle you to the floor.” Peter snorted. “We play it all the time in gym class.”

”Tackle?! Oh, Christ.” Steve snorted before bursting into laughter again. ”That sounds hilarious. So, did you get tackled or what?”

“Only once or twice. I’m pretty good at noticing when other people start doing it.” Peter said, puffing his chest out a little with pride. “We do it in gym cos they have those mats, so if you get tackled you just land on the mats rather than the floor. I think we’ve done it in the corridors before, but we stopped after Abraham nearly chipped a tooth.”

”Oh, jeez.” Steve winced in sympathy, then chuckled again at the image he got in his head of shrieking teens bodyslamming each other on mattresses. ”Imagine if we did that at the facility.” The nurse snorted.

“Someone would definitely get hurt.” Peter laughed. “Especially if you lot got involved. I don’t think I’d live to tell the tale if Thor pushed me over, he’d send me through the floor.” He said, soon falling silent once more as he looked back out of the window. They were now in inner city traffic, and Peter bit down on his lip nervously as they slowly made their way through busy streets.

Steve laughed at that and was about to say that Thor would probably do the same with him, but then he noticed how Peter’s mood changed. ”How you doing, kid?” The nurse asked, glancing over with a smile before turning his gaze back to the road.

“’m okay, ‘m just… nervous.” Peter said quietly, missing Steve’s smile because of how he was staring out at the other cars going by. “I-I’ve never done anything like this before, ‘n… and I dunno what they’re gonna ask me. It’s just scary.”

”Yeah, I get that. I bet everyone else going in that room is pretty wrecked with nerves.” Steve explained. ”But, they know that you’re nervous and new to this, so they’ll tell you what to do and how.”

“Right…” Peter mumbled in response, looking over at Steve briefly. Steve didn’t look nervous, but he guessed that was because he wasn’t actually doing anything, he was just going to be looking after Peter for the day. Soon, they were pulling into a parking lot, but once they were parked, Peter didn’t move. “I, uh… I-I don’t know how to tie a tie. Can you…?” He gestured at his neck, where his tie was still draped around his collar untied.

”Sure, buddy. Can’t let you go inside with that just hanging ’round your neck.” Steve chuckled and gestured for Peter to exit the car. They met each other by the front of the car and Steve began adjusting Peter’s collar before beginning on the tie.

“Thanks.” Peter smiled gently, clambering out of the car with his backpack still clutched in his arms. They met at the front of the car, and Peter tilted his head upwards to expose more of his neck, which would make it easier for Steve to tie his tie for him. He looked off to the side awkwardly while Steve sorted him out, and then took a teeny step back and looked down at himself when he was done.

”There. All good to go?” Steve asked once he fixed Peter’s tie and patted his shoulder, but let his hand linger for a bit and gave a reassuring squeeze.

Peter let out a shaky exhale, his hands gripping tightly onto the strap of his backpack. “Yeah. I think so.” He said, nerves clear in his voice but his face set. “Is there gonna be a lot of waiting around, do you think?” He asked as the two of them made their way out of the parking lot.

”Yeah, a bit. They gotta be all ready in there before they call you in.” Steve explained as he walked with Peter, but paused by the stairs that lead to the entrance. ”You know, he’s gonna be there, right? He might look a bit different than when you last saw him.” The nurse didn’t have to say Tony’s name as he knew Peter understood.

Peter nearly walked up the stairs, but halted when Steve did. “Huh? Oh, I… Yeah, I know. The, uhm, the officer told me he’s gonna be there. I-I doubt they let him trim his goatee in custody.” He joked weakly, looking up at the steps that lead to the courthouse doors.

Steve chuckled lightly before turning more serious again. ”I just- thought you should be warned. It may be emotional to see him like that and be unable to talk to him, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be okay.” Peter responded, looking back up at Steve. They began walking up the steps together, two of Peter’s steps being equal to one of Steve’s. “Will I have to be in there the whole time, do you know, or do they bring me in like halfway through?”

”No, not the whole time. They’ll call you in when they are ready for you.” Steve said with a smile. They made their way to the reception, asking for the right courtroom as well as to let them know they had arrived. The person behind the desk also checked Peter’s ID as well as Steve’s before pointing them in the right direction. Now, all they had to do was wait by some benches up against the wall outside the courtroom.

Peter zoned out a little as they made their way through the reception and towards the benches in the corridor. He took a seat, and his hands shook as he fiddled pointlessly with the zipper on his backpack. His leg also bounced with restless energy, and he gazed at the various people walking past them. “Would you rather have no arms or no legs?” He asked the nurse suddenly.

Steve was a little taken aback by the sudden and odd question. He hummed as he looked up at the ceiling, considering his choices. ”No legs, yeah, then I could use a wheelchair, but what can you do without arms.” The nurse chuckled before turning to Peter. ”What about you?”

“Yeah, definitely no legs. Without arms, I couldn’t go to band practice any more.” Peter hummed, still watching the people go by. “’s your turn to ask now.” He said simply after a moment of silence, glancing to see Steve watching him.

”Oh! Uhm...” Steve hummed as he thought of a good ’this or that’ question. ”Eyesight or hearing?”

“As in, to go without? That’s a tough one. I mean, for convenience sake I’d go without hearing, cos eyesight is probably more important, but… I like music too much to go without hearing easily. I dunno. What about you?” Peter asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.

”Yeah, it’s definitely a tough one.” Steve said. ”It’s very convenient to see, but giving up music?” The nurse huffed out a breath as he considered. They continued with more ’this or that’ questions till the door to the courtroom opened and they called in Peter.

Peter was in the middle of giving another answer when the door suddenly opened, and he was asked to enter. He stood up off the bench on shaky legs, and handed his backpack over to Steve so that he could keep hold of it while he was in the courtroom. He gave the nurse one last look before he headed inside. The room wasn’t too big, but it had a fair number of people in it, who had all swivelled to look at him as he walked inside. His instinct told him to turn tail and run, but he ignored it as he approached the stand. He was doing fine until he let his eyes glance over to the left, and there he saw the only person he cared about in the room.

Tony.


	85. 85

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the trial (part 1)

After the judge announced that Peter would take the witness stand next, Tony felt his stomach drop in dread, but also do a flip of joy at the same time. He turned to see the boy enter, like most of the courtroom and could cry at the sight. Peter looked so handsome in a suit, even if it clearly didn’t sit well on his frame and do his beautiful body justice. If it wasn’t for the police officer next to him and literally being cuffed to the table, Tony would have sprung up from his seat to embrace Peter. He watched transfixed as the boy walked up to the stand.

Peter only had eyes for Tony in that brief moment. Steve was right, the boy suddenly thought to himself, he did look different. His beard was unkempt and his eyes were wide, though whether that was with fear or another emotion, Peter had no idea. He felt like his footsteps were crashing through the silence of the courtroom as he approached the stand, and wrenched his eyes away from Tony so that he could see where to enter. He murmured a small ‘thank you’ to the woman who directed him, and took a seat on the stool provided. The attention on him was almost overwhelming.

”Peter...” Tony mouthed to himself as he continued to stare at Peter. It was like for a moment nothing else existed, only the two of them, but then the prosecutor’s lawyer stood up. She was a serious looking woman and Tony was honestly terrified of her, and he had every reason to as she could be the one sending him to prison. The jury was even less friendly looking and watched with sympathetic and soft eyes as Peter settled by the witness stand.

Peter was shaking in the witness stand, his legs bouncing and his hands fumbling in his lap as he felt every single pair of eyes in the room on him. He had no idea where to look, but then the appearance of a woman in a suit in front of him drew his attention. She presented him with a small Bible, and a meaningful look from her had Peter placing his hand onto the cover of it. She instructed him to repeat after her, and he did so. "I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth." He spoke as clearly as he could, and soon the book was taken away from him.

Hearing Peter’s voice after two months was like music to Tony’s ears and he sighed a little as he listened. But, far too soon it was over and instead Tony heard the sharp sounds of high heels on the wooden floor of the courtroom. ”So, Mr Parker. You’ve been under Doctor Stark’s care for quite some time.” The prosecutor started, walking up to the stand. ”When did you first meet?”

Peter’s attention was suddenly drawn to the scary lady in the high heels, and he realised that she must be the prosecuting lawyer. He gulped at her question, and cleared his throat awkwardly to answer. “W-We first met six months ago, when I was first admitted to Rosewood Psychiatric Hospital.” He said.

”First admitted? There’s been more than one stay?” The lawyer asked and nodded as Peter elaborated that he was at Rosewood for the third time. ”And how would you describe your relation to Doctor Stark during the first stay?” She asked further.

Peter paused for a moment, thinking about how best to answer. “I… I hated him at first. I-I would refuse to speak to him during our sessions, and sometimes I would walk out of my own accord even when we had time left. Eventually I stopped disliking him and started to trust him when we…” He hesitated for a moment. “When we started doing age-regression therapy.”

”Yes, Ms Potts told us about that yesterday.” The lawyer nodded as they were all familiar with the term in the courtroom. ”Why did you hate him at first?” She asked and Tony squirmed in his seat as he sensed that Peter’s answer to that could screw him over badly.

Peter couldn’t resist glancing over at Tony at that point. The doctor was looking down at his hands, and Peter wished he could apologise for what he was about to say. “I- I didn’t want to be at the facility at all, so I lashed out at the staff members, especially Stark. I’ve had poor experiences with other therapists, which led me to believe they were all paid to care. In my mind, Doctor Stark was the same.”

”And did Stark force you to do anything you didn’t want to during your first stay?” The lawyer asked to which Tony’s lawyer rose from his seat.

”Objection, my honour, leading question.” He argued.

The female lawyer raised her hands in defeat. ”I’ll rephrase. Peter, how would you describe your sessions with Stark during your first stay?”

“Uhm…” Peter had to wrack his brain to remember the sessions from his first stay. “I mean, the first few weren’t great because I refused to speak to him. When I did eventually start talking, they were okay. He was nice, ‘n… ‘n he always listened to what I had to say and he didn’t make fun of me for the regression stuff when we did that.”

”Nice? But, not nice enough to help you make a full recovery.” The lawyer narrated, glancing over at the jury as she did so. ”Because you were admitted again a few weeks after being discharged, correct? And if you would, enlighten the jury on your diagnosis and reason for the stay at Rosewood.”

Peter furrowed his brow in confusion at the woman momentarily, and then looked over at the jury who were all watching him. He turned back to the lawyer. “I was, yeah. My… my diagnosis was that I have attachment issues which have led to avolition and a failure to function. I-“ Peter took a shaky breath. “I was re-admitted because I had grown attached to Stark during my first stay, and separation from him caused me to go into a severe depressive episode.” He said.

”Attachment issues.” The female prosecutor hummed, walking back and forth in front of the judge and stands. ”And who made the decision of having you admitted again?” She asked. Meanwhile, Tony whispered something to his own lawyer as he knew where the female prosecutor was heading.

Peter didn’t like this lawyer at all. He watched her walk back and forth, and tried his best to stay calm as she asked her questions. “It… Stark said I needed medical attention, but I was the one who consented to going back to the facility.” He said.

”So, Stark made the decision.” The lawyer rephrased and turned on her heel to walk back to Peter. ”Considering your attachment issues, that hardly seems like a good decision. What do you think, Mr Parker?”

Peter breathed heavily through his nose. “I hadn’t left my bed in two weeks, and I had barely eaten during that time. At that point, I didn’t care who got me the medical attention I needed, as long as it happened quickly.” He said, his fingernails digging into his palms.

”Yes, like you said, anyone could have provided that, but still Stark decided that only he could see you.” The lawyer argued to the jury. Tony shifted in his seat again and he would very much like to loosen his collar, but with the handcuffs he cannot quite reach his neck without making a lot of noise in the quiet courtroom. ”Perhaps, Stark had other intentions with your care.” The laywer added and once more Tony’s lawyer stood up.

”Objection, speculation.”

The female lawyer backed down once more.

Peter shook his head. “He didn’t. My aunt was the one who phoned for his help, and when I spoke to him on the phone he was only interested in whether I had eaten and taken my medication, so that he could understand what had happened. He didn’t have any bad intentions, I-I can tell you that right now.” He said, emotion seeping into his voice despite his best efforts to remain calm.

Tony sighed a little in relief when Peter spoke up and told the truth. _My brave boy_ , he thought to himself with a soft smile.

The female lawyer decided not to respond and moved on instead. ”And what happened when you arrived at Rosewood for the second time?”

“When I arrived at Rosewood, I had to be put in the medical ward because I was malnourished. I was mainly looked after by two of the nurses who had previously looked after me during my first stay, but I would see Stark every so often for check-ups and stuff.” Peter said, remembering how he had been bedridden for the first three days of his second stay.

”And how was your relation to Stark now? Had anything changed compared for the first stay?” The lawyer asked, while Tony was sat in his seat, daydreaming about the time he and Peter had a lego car race on the ward.

He would trade everything to be back in that moment and not in this courtroom on trial for misconduct.

“I mean… I didn’t hate him.” Peter said. “I-I thought he was fine. I spent the first few days in a… a r-regressed headspace, because that’s how my brain had reacted to what was happening, I guess. I trusted him enough to be in that headspace when he was around.”

”So, you placed a lot of trust in Stark?” The lawyer asked. ”And what did he do with that trust?” She asked, glancing over at the jury again with a knowing look.

“Nothing. He respected me, and treated me as a patient.” Peter replied, his eyes flickering over to Tony. He wondered if they were thinking the same thing, the fact that Tony treating him like a patient was something that had been painfully obvious during their time together.

Tony’s lips curled into a smile at that and he chuckled very softly under his breath. What Peter was saying was very true, but Tony realised then that he had stopped treating the boy as a patient long before he brought it up.

”So, doctors bring their patients to their homes? Is that how one respects a patient?” The lawyer finally addressed the elephant in the room which was the reason for the whole trial: Stephen’s accusations.

Peter blinked a few times, but his face quickly set. “I wasn’t his patient at the time. My aunt had been hospitalised, and I couldn’t handle looking after myself while she was gone, so I called the only person I knew who had a chance of helping me. I wasn’t under his care at that point.”

”You called Stark? Did you feel pressured at all to do so?” The lawyer asked, suspicious of Peter’s own motivation to contact his doctor. It didn’t go well with the story she was trying to spin, which was that Tony pressured and manipulated Peter into things he didn’t want to do because he found the boy attractive and easy to persuade with his mental illness.

 “No. I hadn’t spoken to Stark before that point since my last day at the facility. I called him because I trusted that he would know what to do in that situation, and it was my own choice to call him.” Peter explained, looking the lawyer dead in the eye as he spoke.

”Trusted him to know what to do...” The lawyer rephrased with a hum as she continued to pace in front of the stand. ”And that would have been to send you to another psychiatrist, not to take you back under his care again with your attachment issues.”

Peter chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. “He _had_ scheduled for me to see another psychiatrist. When I was discharged from Rosewood, he arranged for me to see Doctor Stephen Strange, but I ended up refusing to attend his sessions. Trying to get me to go to a different psychiatrist would have only made things worse, not better.” He said.

”So, why didn’t you make a full recovery under Stark’s care?” The lawyer argued back. It was a poor argument, but her confidence and smirk sold it to the jury nonetheless it seemed. Tony shifted in his seat again, making the metal cuffs click softly.

“Because...” Peter spluttered, hating how the lawyer had a smile on her face like she had him backed into some kind of corner. “Because the process of dealing with attachment issues is complicated. It’s not like I was recovering from a common cold. Things like this take time and effort, and I was being taken care of with the knowledge that maybe I wouldn’t make a “full” recovery, but I would eventually leave the facility with the ability to deal with my issues as and when I faced them in the future.” He said, his chest heaving slightly as he made his argument. The soft clink of metal made him glance over at Tony, and he realised for the first time that the man was in handcuffs. His eyes widened ever so slightly at that, and he made brief eye contact with Tony that was filled with emotion.

When he met Peter’s eyes, Tony choked back a sob as his face broke into a smile. ”My clever boy...” He mouthed silently, his heart aching in his chest over how Peter was forced to defend him up there.

The lawyer shook her head at Peter’s argument before facing him again. ”Perhaps Stark did not want you to make a full recovery.” She drawled out and Tony’s lawyer rose once more to object. ”Because he wanted you for his own. Why else would he not refer you elsewhere when you were admitted the second time?” The female lawyer continued to argue, stepping as close to the witness stand as she could.

Peter could see the smile on Tony’s face and for a moment he became emotional. He let a shadow of a smile cross his face, enough for Tony to notice as a sign that he was okay, before the lawyer in front of him drew his attention. At her accusation, the boy clenched his fists. Had she not been listening to _anything_ he had been saying? “I-I _told_ you, referring me elsewhere would have made the problem far worse, it wouldn’t have solved it. It would have also meant far more work, as I would have had to learn to trust _another_ psychiatrist at _another_ facility, and with my past history with psychiatrists, that would have been almost impossible to pull off properly, especially at a point where I was that vulnerable.” Peter said, his voice raised ever so slightly as emotion began to affect him. He hated this, hated that the lawyer was trying to get him where it hurt.

The lawyer smiled calmly at Peter before speaking again. ”What is your highest level of education?” She asked, seemingly out of the blue, but she had a point she was confident in pulling off in front of the jury.

 “I’m, uh, currently working to graduate high school. I’m in senior year.” Peter replied, confused by the question. What the fuck did that have to do with anything?

”How can we trust a high schoolers opinion on psychiatry? How can he know what is best to do in his own care?” The lawyer argued, opening her hands as she addressed the court. Tony cursed under his breath, his blood running cold as he listened to the court murmur in agreement to the prosecutors argument.

Peter frowned at that, clearly offended by her question. “The fact that I’m in high school shouldn’t be used to completely ignore my judgement. I-I would argue that _I’m_ the one who’s most likely to know what’s best to do, seeing as _I’m_ the one being cared for.” He said, slowly but surely becoming upset that the woman was completely disregarding his arguments. His jaw clenched as he stared at her, and he could feel a familiar pressure behind his eyes. Fuck, if he cried right now, he would hate himself for the rest of his life.

The prosecutors lawyer was about to argue back, but the judge stepped in and called for a break. People started moving in an instant, flowing out of the courtroom while the police officer by Tony’s seat hauled him up from his seat and escorted him out of the room, his lawyers trailing behind. ”Peter...” Tony mouthed again, trying to keep eye contact with the boy for as long as possible before he was brought out.

Peter looked around wildly as people began to move, and he tried to find Tony in the throng of people heading out of the courtroom. They held eye contact for a brief second, but then Tony disappeared and instead a woman from the courtroom was gesturing for Peter to leave the stand. He did so on wobbly legs, and looked up to see Steve stood nearby. “St-Steve!” He approached the nurse, his hands trembling.

”Hey, hey.” Steve said, studying the boy and found him very upset. He placed his hands on Peter’s shoulders and guided him outside and into a quiet spot in the hallway. ”You okay?”

Peter let Steve direct him outside, barely aware of his surroundings. Once they stopped, he let out a soft gasp to steady his breathing. “I-I’m fine. It’s just scary being there. The... the lawyer’s really scary, and she keeps asking super hard questions.” He mumbled, staring down at his shoes.

”You’ve done so well, Peter, you’re being really brave up there.” Steve assured, knowing this even though he hadn’t been there to witness it himself. But, when Peter didn’t seem very comforted, the nurse added. ”Do you want me to sit there and watch? I’ll be a bit far away, but you’d still see me.” Steve smiled, his hands still on Peter’s shoulder to keep him grounded.

 “Uhm...” Peter didn’t know. The comfort would be nice, but the idea of the nurse hearing details about his and Tony’s situation made him feel a little uncomfortable. “Y-Yeah, that’d be nice, thanks.” He nodded. In the long run, the comfort would probably be better for him. “Do you have my backpack?” He asked quietly, noticing that the nurse was holding it in one hand. He wanted Spidey.

”Yeah, here you go. Shall we go outside maybe? The break is half an hour long, so we have so time to cool down.” Steve said, handing Peter’s backpack to him and began leading the way outside.

Peter took his backpack with both hands, and nodded in response to Steve’s question. They headed outside and onto the steps in front of the courthouse, where Peter unzipped his backpack and reached inside to feel the soft fur of his stuffie. He sighed gently, the feeling of it calming him down as he looked out onto the street.

”Glad you brought him along?” Steve asked with a smile, placing an hand on Peter’s shoulder again as they sat on the steps.

 “Yeah.” Peter moved the stuffie to pull it slightly out of the bag, but not enough so that members of the public could see him cuddling a stuffed animal. He rubbed his fingers through the soft material, while watching people climb the steps of the courthouse. “Thanks for stayin’ here with me.” He said quietly.

”You’re very welcome, Peter.” Steve smiled, rubbing at Peter’s shoulder. ”Do you want to talk about what happened in there? Or would you rather calm down for a bit?” The nurse asked as he saw how Peter handled his stuffie.

Peter shook his head. “Just wanna sit for a bit.” He mumbled. They sat in silence for a little while, Peter scratching Spidey gently while Steve rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “The lawyer in there is really mean.” He said, mostly to himself.

”Hmm, I bet, kid.” Steve sighed a little. ”That’s their job, but I’m guessing that Stark’s lawyers will be kinder with you up there.”

 “I hope so. I-I saw Stark, and you were right, he does look different. He’s- They put him in handcuffs.” Peter said, his breath hitching as he remembered how the man had been cuffed to the table.

”Hmm, they have to no matter the crime, I guess.” Steve explained, but it didn’t seem to offer Peter much comfort. Shifting a bit where he sat, Steve used his body to block anyone else from seeing much of Peter. With a gentle hand, he made Peter take Spidey out of his backpack fully. ”It’s okay, no one will know.” The nurse assured, squaring his shoulders with a chuckle to show that he would block anyone from seeing Peter cuddle his toy.

Peter widened his eyes, looking around quickly to see that nobody else was looking in their direction. Once Spidey was completely out of his backpack, he held the stuffie tightly to his chest and tangled his fingers through the well-loved fur. “Thanks, Jeeves.” He said quietly, smiling softly at the nurse.

Steve smiled softly at Peter, rubbing his back to sooth him. ”You’re okay, Peter, you’re doing great.” He praised. They two of them continued to sit outside for a while till people started entering the building again. Glancing at his watch, Steve saw that the break was almost over.

Peter nodded, relaxing slowly under the soothing movements of Steve’s hand against his back. As the nurse checked his watch, Peter looked up and around to realise that people were starting to go back inside en masse. “Does... Should we go in too?” He asked, looking at Steve uncertainly.

”Yeah, I think we should.” Steve said and let Peter pack Spidey away before rising from his seat on the steps. With his hand still on Peter’s back, Steve led the way back inside the courtroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: when we were writing this, we realised we had never actually given a name to the facility. this is the first mention of the facility's name, Rosewood Psychiatric Hospital.


	86. 86

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the trial (part 2)

Peter hastily shoved the stuffie into his backpack and clutched it tightly in his hand, while using his other hand to quickly brush the seat of his pants to make sure he looked presentable. As they walked together, he tried to look around for any sight of Tony, but didn’t see him as they entered the courtroom. He silently passed his backpack to Steve, and made his way back to the witness stand, where the same woman from before was waiting for him.

Steve moved to sit with the rest of the audience and gave Peter a thumbs up when the caught the boy’s eye where he was sat on the witness stand again. Once everyone was seated, the judge requested the police officer to bring Tony back and cuffed him back to the table where he sat with his lawyers.

Peter couldn’t help his soft smile when he saw Steve giving him a thumbs up, and he nodded in response. When Tony came back, Peter was stuck between staring at him gormlessly and looking at his own shoes, desperately wanting to see the doctor but too embarrassed to be seen staring. Eventually the prosecuting lawyer also returned, and Peter watched as she made her way to the space in front of the witness stand.

”So, Peter, what happened after you were discharged from Rosewood for the second time?” She asked. ”You were referred to a new psychiatrist, correct?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I was referred to Stephen Strange.” He said, biting his lip nervously. At the back of his mind, he vaguely wondered what she was going to get from this.

”So, what happened after that? Did you see Stark again?” The lawyer asked as she continued to pace in front of the witness stand.

 “No, not for two weeks. I only spoke to Stark when my aunt was hospitalised after she was attacked at her job, and I made the decision to call him for help.” Peter replied, remembering almost _begging_ to speak to Tony on the phone to the facility receptionist, and being in floods of tears when Tony finally answered.

”And did he help you?” The lawyer asked, prompting Peter to continue with his narrative. Tony bit the inside of his cheek as he knew where this was going.

 “Yes, he-“ Peter took a deep breath. “He offered that I stay with him for the time that my aunt was hospitalised, so that I could be looked after. I agreed to it, because I thought that would be best.” He said, his fingernails once again digging into his palm as the lawyer listened attentively but straightened her posture, like she had finally heard what she needed to hear.

”To me that sounds like Stark took advantage of your vulnerable mental state and manipulated you into becoming dependant on him.” She pointed out, shooting a look to the jury. Tony’s lawyer rose from his seat once more, objecting due to speculation, but the prosecutors lawyer pushed on. ”Why didn’t you call a friend or a family member to help out? Why your former doctor?”

Peter gritted his teeth. Every word this woman was saying was utter bullshit, and he waited a couple of seconds to try and calm himself down before he spoke. “My aunt is my only living family member. I have no other family to call when events like this happen, and I didn’t want to put excess pressure on the families of either of my friends by asking for their help.” He said, his voice clear but wavering slightly with emotion.

That didn’t go well with the prosecutors argument and the lawyer stepped back with a tight smile. ”No further questions, your honor.” She said to the judge before going to her seat.

Next, the defendant’s lawyer, Tony’s lawyer rose from his seat to question Peter. ”Peter, you said you had no one to call when your aunt was hospitalised, and that is why you called Stark. That means you trusted him a lot, correct?” The male lawyer asked, his voice much kinder compared to his female coworker.

Peter watched as the prosecuting lawyer sat back down, and a sick sense of smugness seeped into his bones at the look of her tight, yet uncomfortable smile. He looked over at the defence lawyer, and relaxed as the man spoke to him. “Yes, sir, I did.” He nodded. “Still do.” He added as an afterthought quietly, quickly looking over at Tony to gauge his reaction.

Tony smiled at that and felt himself relax a bit in his seat, knowing his lawyer will put on a much nicer twist on the story than the prosecutors lawyer. Still, he knew he was probably going to get punished somehow. ”How would you describe Doctor Stark?” The male lawyer asked, gesturing to the doctor in question who was cuffed to the table.

Peter looked over at Tony when the lawyer gestured towards him. “As a person?” He asked, and when the lawyer nodded in reply, he took a second to think. “He’s... he’s smart. Obviously, cos he’s a doctor. Uhm... he’s patient, and he listens to what I have to say. He always made me feel like he cared about what I said, even if I thought it was stupid or something not worth talking about. He respected me even when I hated him, and... he’s trustworthy. I-I don’t think I trust anyone more than I trust him.” He said, avoiding Tony’s gaze as a blush crept up his cheeks. God, he sounded like a schoolboy describing his crush.

”And you’ve experienced a fair share of tragedies during your lifetime, haven’t you?” The lawyer continued.

 “Uhm, yes sir. I-“ Peter didn’t expect that he would be sharing his life story in front of a court room, but he squared his shoulders to gain courage to speak. “My parents died in an airplane crash when I was 6, so my aunt and uncle took custody of me. My Uncle Ben was killed in an armed robbery of our house when I was 15, so now it’s just me and my Aunt May.” He explained, his heart aching at having to say it out loud.

The jury murmured quietly in sympathy for the boy. Steve sighed a little where he sat. They really were tough with the boy up there. Tony felt his heart ache in his chest as well, but he knew this was vital to his argument. ”So, stable parental figures haven’t been much in your life.” The lawyer said and then gestured to Tony. ”Would you say Doctor Stark has been a stable figure in your life? After all, he did take you in when you needed an adult the most when your aunt was attacked.”

Peter nodded enthusiastically at that. “Yeah, he is. The way he respected and treated me at the facility meant I felt comfortable putting a lot of trust in him, a-and I don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t there to help at the time I needed him.” He said, looking down at his hands folded in his lap.

”Your Honour, Peter’s lack of parental figures just made him more vulnerable to Stark’s manipulation.” The prosecuting lawyer argued as she rose from her seat.

”Your Honour, I am simply establishing Peter’s image of Doctor Stark and how he felt about him.” Tony’s lawyer argued and after considering for a moment, the judge allowed the defending lawyer to continue. He turned to Peter expectantly.

Peter’s gaze flickered from the prosecuting lawyer, then to the defending, then up to the judge. When he was allowed to continue, Peter blinked owlishly for a few seconds, his train of thought derailed by the sudden interruption. “I just, uhm... I mean, it would have been a bit early to describe To- Doctor Stark as a father figure, but... I trusted him like one, which is something I hadn’t experienced since Uncle Ben.” He explained, looking shyly at the doctor and then back at the defending lawyer.

Tony felt his heart swell in his chest at hearing Peter defend him so beautifully. He smiled gently at the boy. ”And your condition worsened quite badly when out of his care, correct?” The lawyer asked. ”Why so you think he continued to care for you instead of referring you to another psychiatrist at Rosewood?”

Peter nodded again. “I think he continued to care cos he knew what would happen if he simply pushed that responsibility onto someone else. He knew I would get worse, and he clearly didn’t want that to happen.” He said. “I like to think I know him well, and... I don’t think he would have been able to live with himself if he couldn’t care for somebody who needed him like I did.”

”That to me sounds like a doctor who went out of his way to make sure his patient was okay during a devastating time like a family member being attacked and hospitalised.” The lawyer rephrased to the jury. ”Not a predatory monster like the prosecutor likes to argue.” He added before turning back to Peter. ”How long did you stay at Stark’s place after calling him for help?”

 “May was hospitalised for 8 days, but I stayed at Stark’s house for 7.” Peter replied. The defending lawyer was a God send, the boy quickly decided, and glancing over at the prosecuting lawyer he could see her getting more and more antsy as each question was asked. Good.

”And what happened during those 7 days?” The lawyer asked. Tony felt himself grow a bit hot under his collar at that question. _A lot_  happened during that week.

Peter chewed on his lip at that question. He knew he had to be truthful, but he decided to begin describing it as he did to Rhodey and Strange. “During the day, Stark would go to work, and I would either go to Strange’s therapy sessions, go out to see friends, or go to my apartment to make sure everything there was alright.” He said, drumming his fingertips against his knees.

”And what did Stark do for you when he was there? Besides providing a roof over your head.” The lawyer asked as he paced too, but he was far more relaxed as he did so compared to his female coworker.

 “He’d cook dinner, and he lent me his Netflix password, and... he would look after me when I entered a regressed headspace, which happened a few times while I was there.” Peter said, trying his best not to appear anxious about the direction that this set of questions was heading in.

”But, you were also intimate, were you not? Or that is at least the way Stephen Strange described the nature of your relationship.” The lawyer asked, but he didn’t looked wicked as he spoke, but more so kind and on Peter’s side.

Peter let out a soft sigh. “Yes, we were. We started a relationship because we both had feelings for each other.” He said quietly, now looking at his lap as embarrassment overtook him. He wasn’t embarrassed about being in a relationship with Tony, but rather having to explain it to a room full of people who could determine whether Tony went to prison or not.

The courtroom began murmuring at that so the judge had to demand silence. ”But, that is something you initiated, correct?” The lawyer asked.

Peter nodded. “Yes. I-I was the one who started it. I first told him that I liked him during a session, but miscommunication meant that I got upset at him. I avoided him for about a day and a half, but then I- I had a medical exam the next day with him, and... and I kissed him. _I_ kissed _him._ ” He said, his face burning as he admitted what had happened.

The defending lawyer cleared his throat when the courtroom began mumbling again. Steve cringed where he sat and heard everything. He couldn’t believe what his coworker had done, but as he listened to Peter explain it all, he started to understand why Tony did what he did. ”And did this intimacy develop in any way?” The lawyer asked. It was a bump in their argument, but they would get over it and twist it for Tony’s benefit.

“I- It- Uhm...” Peter had no idea how to answer that question. He knew that telling the court that they had sex, or at least some parts of it, wouldn’t go down well. “It did, but not often. We- We would kiss quite frequently, but not much else. I cared more about spending time with him than doing... that stuff, and I know he felt the same.” He said as his hands began to shake again with nerves.

”And everyone needs physical closeness and comfort, especially in such a chaotic situation as a family member being hospitalised.” The lawyer argued smoothly, although the courtroom was not buying it entirely. Tony bit the inside of his cheek as he listened to all the murmuring. ”What would you say this intimacy meant to you, Peter?”

“It… It meant a lot. Like you said, physical closeness was important for me at that time. It- There’s only so much comfort you can give to someone stood at arm’s length, you know?” Peter said, cracking his knuckles nervously. He avoided looking at Tony, not wanting to see how he was reacting to all of this.

”Lets say that you didn’t call Stark that day your aunt was attacked or that he didn’t answer or refused to help. What do you think would have happened to you and your mental state in particular?” The lawyer explained and then looked to Peter for an answer.

Peter chewed down on his bottom lip. “I- I don’t know. It scares me to think about. I have genuinely no idea if I could have gotten through the time that May spent in the hospital, by myself. It- I don’t know if I’d be here right now.” He said quietly, finally looking at Tony.

Tony smiled sadly at what Peter was saying. He very much agreed and that was why he took Peter in when he called because he knew the boy wouldn’t be able to care for himself. ”So, he saved your life is what you are saying?” The lawyer rephrased, bringing more attention to the fact so that the jury couldn’t ignore it.

“Yes, sir. 100%.” Peter nodded. “Not for the first time, either. His choice to have me re-admitted to Rosewood was another example.” He said confidently, looking briefly at the jury, who were all watching him carefully, then at the defence lawyer who was gazing at him sympathetically.

”Thank you, Peter. No further questions.” The defending lawyer smiled at Peter before addressing the judge and going to sit down next to Tony. Then, the judge asked whether the prosecutors had more questions. The female lawyer shook her head and then the judge called for Peter to stand down from the witness stand.

A small, nervous smile tugged at the corner of Peter’s lips when the lawyer smiled at him, but then he was being directed off the witness stand. He walked out and headed towards the back of the court, where he could see Steve sat towards the back. He was shaking, a little less violently than before, but still enough to be noticeable as he approached the nurse.

While Peter went down from the witness stand, Tony eyed him closely because he knew he wouldn’t see Peter for a long time, maybe not ever. He gazed upon the boy longingly and bit the inside of his cheek again. God, he missed those soft lips and stroking those soft curls.

”Shall we go then?” Steve asked quietly, seeing that Peter was quite shaken and might need another cuddle with Spidey.

“Y-Yeah.” Peter whispered, turning back one  last time to see the top of Tony’s head. He sighed to himself, knowing that this would be the last time he would see the man for a while. He missed everything about the doctor, and he wanted to be sat on his lap playing with his stupid goatee more than anything right now. However, he simply shoved those thoughts down and turned to exit the courtroom with Steve, where they headed to a bench nearby.

”You want your buddy again?” Steve asked as they sat down on the bench. The hallway was quiet and calm, so hopefully it would continue to be so while Peter gathered himself. The nurse handed the boy his backpack again.

Peter took the backpack again once he had sat down, and instantly unzipped it so that he could reach in and touch the stuffie’s fur. “Thank you.” He mumbled quietly, staring hopelessly at the floor while kicking his legs out in front of him.

”You did great up there, Peter.” Steve said genuinely with a soft tone, placing his hand back on the boy’s shoulder to keep him grounded. ”I’m really proud of you.”

Peter made a noise of acknowledgement, but didn’t smile or look in Steve’s direction. “They were trying to say that... that Tony was a predator. H-He’s not, he wouldn’t...” he trailed off, his fingers gripping tightly to Spidey and his fingertips rubbing through the synthetic fur. His leg bounced against the floor with excess energy, while he tried to steady his breathing.

”I know he isn’t, Peter, and you did a great job up there telling your truth.” Steve praised further, squeezing Peter’s shoulder to provide more comfort. ”But, trials are like this, everyone snapping at one another and trying to twist truths. You did a great job.” He added.

Peter sighed heavily, and shuffled closer to the nurse so that he could gently rest his head against the man’s bulky shoulder. “‘m so tired. Tired ‘n...” He didn’t know how he felt at that moment, sitting on the bench outside a trial that determined whether his first love would be sent to prison.

”Yeah, we can grab some food on our way back.” Steve offered, letting Peter rest his head on hi shoulder. ”You did really good up there, Peter.” The nurse repeated, making sure the boy got it.

 “You said that already, Jeeves.” Peter said not unkindly, looking up at the nurse with the shadow of a smile on his face. “Thanks anyway.” He mumbled, looking back in front of him at the occasional passer-by through the corridor. “Can we... get McDonalds?” He asked quietly, his gaze shooting back up to Steve as he pulled his best puppy dog expression.

”Oof, I don’t know kid.” Steve chuckled. ”Rhodey would not be happy to hear you had that junk with your meds and all.” The nurse explained with an apologetic face, but when he saw Peter’s puppy dog expression becoming even more begging and irresistable, the nurse groaned. ”All right, we’ll get McDonalds. But, you gotta promise to not tell the doc!”

 “Yessss!” Peter hissed, a grin finally spreading across his face when the nurse conceded. “Promise I won’t tell, Stevie.” He nodded. He peered into his backpack to see Spidey looking up at him, and he allowed himself to stroke the stuffie’s fur a few more times before zipping the bag back up. “Do you think we can go now? They said they didn’t have any more questions for me.”

”Yeah, they let you out of the court, so you’re good to go. I asked in the reception about it while you were in there.” Steve explained as he rose from his seat. ”You’ll probably be notified about the verdict and get to attend that too, considering you’re a key witness.”

 “M’kay.” Peter said, following Steve in standing up from the bench. Together they headed out of the courthouse and down the steps, while Peter slung his backpack over one shoulder. “Jeez... That’s gonna be scary.” He mumbled, referring to attending the verdict.

”Do you want me to come join you then? Or that is if you want to go at all? You don’t have to be there if it’s too upsetting.” Steve explained as they headed out and down the steps.

 “Uhm... I want you to come with. Please.” Peter replied as they rounded the corner and headed to the courthouse parking lot. “I- I know I wanna be there. Like you said, key witness ‘n everything.” He said as they approached Steve’s car.

”Sure, kid.” Steve smiled as they climbed into the car. ”So, McDonalds next?” He asked with a grin, lifting a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture because it would have to be their little secret.


	87. 87

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an unexpected argument.

When Peter got back to the facility with Steve, he had a little bit more energy than before because of their pit stop at McDonalds. Peter had gotten his usual meal while Steve simply watched on, trying (and failing) to hide the look of mild disgust on his face. Peter found it hilarious, knowing that Steve probably hated all things fast food, but it didn’t stop the nurse from stealing one of his fries. They parted ways at the reception, and Peter headed back to his room to change out of his suit.

Dinner time rolled around and Loki found Peter sat by the window in the canteen. He walked over and sat down. ”Where have you been all day? Thought Rhodey locked you up or something.” Loki said with a snort.

Peter had been following the flight path of a sparrow outside with his eyes, but when he looked back to his tray of food, he suddenly jumped at the random appearance of Loki in front of him. “No, I… I went outside. Like, _outside_  outside.” He said. He looked around conspiratorially, and then leaned in. “It was Stark’s trial today.” He whispered, chewing on his lip as he studied Loki’s face.

”Oh.” Loki nodded seriously and for once he didn’t make a joke about the situation right away. ”How did it go?” He asked, trying to see if Peter was upset or not. He had been practicing that skill with Banner lately.

“It… I’ll be honest, I have no idea. They didn’t reach a verdict, so I think I have to go back tomorrow.” Peter said, pushing the food around his plate absentmindedly. “Lawyers are such _dicks_ , dude, the lady who was against Stark was such an asshole.” He grumbled. “She kept tryin’ to… to twist the story ‘n make it seem like Stark was some kinda predator.”

”I mean, on paper he is. What other stand is a prosecutor supposed to take, huh? That Stark’s a puppy dog and wouldn’t harm a fly?” Loki snorted, then cursed at himself in his head. _So much for not making jokes and considering other people’s feelings_ , Loki thought to himself.

Before the boy could apologise, Harley joined them at the table with a dramatic huff. ”Shit, man, this food is disgusting.” He stated with a groan before looking at Peter and Loki. ”Did I interrupt something?”

Peter opened his mouth to argue back, but the sudden appearance of Harley at their table made him close his mouth. “It- Uh- Nah, nah, you’re alright, dude. You’re right, the food is rank. I’m pretty sure if I turned this plate upside down, the mashed potato would stick to it and defy gravity.” He snorted, but his thoughts about Stark continued to run rampant in the back of his mind.

Harley laughed at that before poking at his food before looking at the two boys who were oddly quiet. ”Seriously, though, did I interrupt something?” He asked again.

Peter glanced over at Loki, a look of ‘don’t say anything’ on his face, before looking back at Harley. “No, it’s nothing, dude. You’re cool.” He felt bad for keeping it from Harley, but it was simply down to the fact that he didn’t know the boy as well as he knew Loki, and trying to stop two people from spreading the news was a lot harder than stopping one person.

”Fine.” Harley huffed, sensing that Peter didn’t trust him with the information that would surely be interesting. It didn’t feel good to be left out of, because Harley knew that Peter had told Loki before he had arrived. Loki squirmed in his seat as an awkward silence fell over their table.

Peter flushed with embarrassment as Harley seemed to get offended by the fact that Peter wouldn’t tell him what was going on. He sighed softly, poking further at his food with his chin resting in his hand. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to tell him… right? “I- Okay, I’ll tell you what’s going on, but… you _have_  to keep quiet about it. It’s proper secret stuff, okay?” He leaned across so that Harley and Loki could both hear him.

”Yeah, yeah, man.” Harley nodded. ”Just tell us- or me already.” He added, shooting a glare over at Loki.

Peter took a deep breath. “Okay, uhm... it’s- it’s a long story, but I haven’t been around today cos I had to go to the city to go to court. It- It was to do with Stark.” He started, watching Harley carefully as he spoke.

”What?” Harley snorted out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. ”What do you mean Stark?” Loki cringed a bit where he sat and looked at Peter.

Peter chewed on his lip nervously, squirming in his seat. “He, uh… He went on leave because he was accused of professional misconduct. That’s why he’s on trial, and that’s why I went to court, cos I’m the key witness. I’m… We…” He gestured wordlessly to himself, his voice dying in his throat.

”What? He made you take the wrong meds or something?” Harley asked.

”Fucking hell...” Loki chuckled under his breath, looking over at Peter knowingly.

“N-No, he… we were in a relationship. I started it, and it’s my fault, but he’s the one that’s being done for it. Strange was the one who found us.” Peter mumbled, keeping his voice quiet as he stayed leaned forward so that the two boys could hear him.

”Jesus Christ...” Harley mumbled. ”You’re fucking with me. Right?” The boy asked, looking at both Peter and Loki. ”So, you went to court and did what?”

“I went to court and had to stand as a witness. They asked me a bunch of questions, like what I thought of Stark ‘n the… the timeline of events, I guess. He looks so different, he looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.” And Peter supposed that he hadn’t, which only made guilt coil tighter in his stomach. “They tried to portray him as some kind of… some kind of predator. That’s what me and Loki were arguing about before you came ‘n sat down.” He said.

”Shit, man.” Harley huffed out, but couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of the whole story. ”So, what? You kissed your doc in cleaning closets or something?”

”Well, not exactly-” Loki started, but was then interrupted by Peter.

Peter squealed indignantly and punched Loki in the shoulder when he started to speak. “I-I’m not going into detail about it, especially not in the canteen. We did kiss, yes, but that’s all I’m telling you right now, okay? There are nurses around.” He hissed, glancing over to where he could see Bucky and Steve having a conversation by the opposite wall.

”Oh, my God!” Harley exclaimed, quickly covering his mouth to silence his giggles. ”Let’s get outta here then. I need to hear this.” Harley said and gestured for the two boys to follow him out of the canteen.

Peter groaned, rolling his eyes but getting up from the table anyway. The three of them managed to leave the canteen without arousing suspicions from the nurses, and they headed back to Peter’s room. Once the three of them were inside, Peter shut the door behind him and sat on the floor with his back against it. “Listen, what I tell you _can’t leave this room_ , understand?”

”What about the things you already told us in the canteen?” Harley pointed out with a grin.

Loki elbowed and shushed him. ”Just, listen to it, man. It’s real shit.” Loki said seriously for once.

Peter was momentarily surprised by Loki’s seriousness, but that surprise was quickly replaced with a feeling of gratefulness. If it was just him trying to control the two of them, this conversation would be a lot harder. When Harley calmed down, Peter took a moment to collect his thoughts before he spoke. “So, uhm… obviously we weren’t in a relationship _immediately_. I, uhm, I actually hated him at first, but over time I started to like him more ‘n more. Eventually I… I developed feelings for him, and I told him during one of our sessions. I thought he didn’t like me back so I got upset with him, but then the next day I had a medical exam with him and… and I kissed him.”

”Did he kiss you back?” Harley asked quickly, impatient to know the full story and stepped closer to Peter to hear more. Loki remained standing back a little, as he already knew most of it.

“I- He-“ Peter looked from Harley, who was watching him with wide, interested eyes, to Loki who was stood a little ways back with his arms crossed. “Y-Yeah. He did.” He nodded, a small blush creeping up his cheeks.

”Jesus!” Harley huffed out with a slight snort. He shook his head in disbelief as he paced the room. ”Then you’re the one who should be on trial.” He added, but Loki made a disapproving noise.

”Dumbass! Do you even know the law?”

“Loki’s right. I kissed him first but he’s the doctor that kissed his own patient so it puts him in the wrong, even though it wasn’t his fault.” Peter said glumly, watching Harley pace the room. “I-I tried to tell them that during the trial, but the prosecuting lawyer kept trying to twist my words to make it seem like he was manipulating me for his own personal gain or some shit.”

”And how do you know he didn’t just manipulate you for his personal gain? I mean, this shit sounds like a cheap movie plot.” Harley argued with a scoff.

Loki perked up with a witty response. ”10/10 would watch.” He said sarcastically with a snicker.

Peter glared at the two of them. “Assholes.” He grumbled, before sighing heavily as he slumped further against his door. “Tony wouldn’t do that. When I… When I first kissed him, the first thing he tried to do was get me transferred somewhere else. He- He tried to send me away to someone else, but I begged him not to. He wasn’t trying to manipulate me, if anything he was doing the opposite.”

“So, you manipulated him?” Harley asked. “Why would you wanna fuck your doctor anyway? He just keeps you locked up here? Won’t let you go out unless one of those dumb nurses follow you all around? And phone privileges once a week? I think some prisons treat people better than this.” Harley suddenly ranted, going off topic as he let his frustrated feelings show.

"Wh- No! I didn't- It-" Peter spluttered, finding the energy to get up off the floor finally. "Dude, he made me actually deal with staying here, I would've fucking hated it otherwise. And- And he didn't keep me _locked up_ , I... I saw him outside of the facility as well, when I left." Peter said, fumbling with his hands as he watched Harley calm down from his sudden outburst.

“That’s even more fucked up!” Harley argued back and took a step closer to Peter. He wasn’t actually mad at the boy, but rather frustrated with being kept at the facility. But, shouting at Peter was a good excuse to get his frustration out. “You manipulated him into being in love with you and now he’s going to prison for it, even though you’re the one at fault.”

”Harley, dude, chill.” Loki tried, getting nervous now that the argument seemed to be escalating.

Peter had no idea where this sudden anger was coming from, as he watched Harley get more and more frustrated in front of him. “Wh-“ Peter took a step back when Harley stepped towards him, moving closer to his room door. “It’s not my- I mean- Don’t you think I know that?!” Peter finally snapped, yelling right in Harley’s face. “I- I _know_  it’s my fault, you asshole! He- It- I never wanted this to happen!” He spluttered, looking over at Loki hopelessly who was now watching the two of them nervously.

“Well, wanting something is never enough for it to actually happen, Peter.” Harley pointed out harshly like he was talking to a child and not another young man his age. “You should be up there on trial and Stark should be here!” He added, pointing to the floor for emphasis on the facility.

Peter couldn’t stop himself from getting more and more emotional by the second. Harley was right, he should be the one on trial instead of Tony, but the way he was being spoken to was making him see red. “I- I know it’s my fault, but you don’t have to be such a prick about it! You don’t even _like_  Tony, why the fuck are you defending him like this?” He said, bravely taking a step forward so that he and Harley were almost chest to chest. Harley was a few inches taller than him but he didn’t care, staring up at the boy with fiery determination. “You said you fucking hate everyone in here, and now you want him back in place of me?”

 “Yeah, I do!” Harley shouted back. “Because he listened! He was there for me, like no one else has been for me ever. And now you’ve fucked it all up!” The boy admitted, his eyes hard and breathing heavy as he looked at Peter right in front of him.

Peter didn’t know what to say to that. The realisation that he had caused yet another disaster in someone’s life hit him like a ton of bricks, and he was left staring at Harley with a heartbroken expression. Tears pricked hotly at the corners of his eyes, and his fists clenched and unclenched by his sides as the two boys stared at each other. “I- I didn’t know- I’m sorry-“ Peter stammered out, even though he was still infuriated with Harley.

 “Well, that doesn’t change a fucking thing, does it?” Harley spat back before turning on his heel and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

Loki continued to stay in his spot as if he was frozen in place. He was slightly hyperventilating and staring at the ground with wide, frightened eyes.

Peter watched Harley leave with a sizeable lump in his throat. He didn’t even flinch when the door slammed, his entire body already tense as he realised what he had done. He could hear Loki’s quick breathing and he turned to look at him, but his stomach took another drop as he saw how scared Loki was. “Loki...?” He asked gently, unable to keep his voice from wavering.

“I- I... I have to go.” Loki stammered out, not meeting Peter’s eyes before also heading out of the door, although unlike Harley, he didn’t slam it shut, but left it open instead. He had to get away as soon as possible. Maybe even find Bruce. Or Thor.

 “Loki, wait-!” But it was too late, the other boy had left the room and Peter was left standing by himself. He took a few stumbled steps back until his calves hit the bed, and he sank down onto the mattress. He waited for a moment, before drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. His entire body was trembling with nerves, and he could feel himself slipping into a smaller headspace despite his best efforts to stay calm.


	88. 88

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter and steve.

 “I want to call my dad.” Harley demanded, stomping up to Steve who was doing rounds.

The nurse turned to face the boy, frowning a bit at how distressed he looked. “You’ll have phone privileges in two days, bud.” Steve tried gently, but Harley just huffed dramatically in response and stomped off again.

Down the hallway, Steve could also see Loki walking away on unsteady feet, but luckily bumped into Thor. The nurse went to investigate further and found Peter in his room, looking quite upset too. “Hey, kiddo, you all right?”

Peter flinched when Steve appeared at the door, his eyes wide and watery as he saw the nurse looking at him. “I- It-“ He tried, but it felt like the lump in his throat was stopping him from talking. He decided to simply shake his head in response to the question, but looked away from the door in embarrassment. He didn’t want Steve here while he felt like this.

 “Were Harley and Loki here by any chance? Did something happen?” Steve asked, putting some of the pieces together in his mind. He moved to sit next to the boy on his bed.

Peter nodded, a response to both questions, but moved to curl up tighter when Steve sat next to him. Even despite their bonding over the day of the court case, Peter was nervous about being little around the nurse. “Had a fight.” He said, trying to sound as put together and adult as possible.

 “I see. What was it about?” Steve asked gently, keeping his body language relaxed, but just confident enough to provide Peter with the grounding he needed.

 “Was ‘bout Daddy.” Peter responded quietly, the title slipping out by accident. The boy didn’t react to it, though, his gaze fixed straight ahead to the floor and his body still wound up and tense. The thought of Tony made his bottom lip tremble and he sniffed pitifully. He missed him.

Oh. Steve swallowed as he thought of how to respond quickly. He was more than used to dealing with regressed patients, it was just that these circumstances were odd to say the least.

“Yeah, you had a rough day today, but you were so brave up there.” The nurse said, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder to comfort him. ”Did you tell them about court today?”

Peter nodded. “Harley was mad. Said ‘s my fault, ‘n I should be where Daddy is.” He mumbled, sniffing again and bringing one hand up to wipe clumsily at his face. He soon wrapped his arm back around his legs, and sighed heavily. “Miss him.” The boy whimpered.

 “Yeah, I get that, buddy.” Steve sighed a little, figuring that Peter must feel quite little and upset to be using the title ’daddy’ aloud. ”I know I’m not Daddy, but maybe I could be your Uncle Stevie? Would that help a bit?” He offered, opening his arm for Peter to lean in if he wanted to. ”It’s okay if you don’t want to, I won’t be mad.” He added, knowing that regressed patients must be given a fair choice.

Peter paused, his eyes flickering sideways to quickly scan Steve up and down, but eventually nodded. He squirmed across the bed and ducked under Steve’s arm, plastering himself to the nurse’s side with his legs now dangling off the bed. His thumb came up to his lips and stayed there, while his other hand picked at the fabric of his sweatpants. “Thank you, Stevie.” He mumbled quietly, his voice finally breaking and showing just how little he really felt.

”That’s all right, little guy. You just slip down and I’ll be right here for you.” Steve said with a soft smile, squeezing Peter to his side gently. ”You wanna talk more about the argument or you wanna maybe have some quiet time and calm down?” He asked.

 “Quiet time, please.” Peter replied. He felt a wave of calm go through him when Steve squeezed him to his side, and found himself trying to press up against the nurse’s side even more for the contact comfort he needed. He fumbled with his hands in his lap, but then suddenly remembered something and wriggled out from under the nurse’s arm to fetch his backpack. He zipped it open and pulled Spidey out, before heading back and resuming the position from before on the bed, this time with Spidey on his lap.

”Oh, yeah, that’s better.” Steve chuckled quietly and arranged himself more comfortably against the wall with Peter pressed to his side. The nurse didn’t say anything else and just sat and kept a good and reassuring grip on the boy to calm and comfort him.

Once Peter was sat comfortably, that was when he finally broke. He cried quietly, trying not to disturb Steve’s grip on his shoulders too much as he hiccuped and tears streamed down his face. He fiddled with Spidey’s fur until his face became too stained with tears, and he lifted a hand to try and clear them. “Miss Daddy.” He mumbled.

”I know, buddy, I know.” Steve cooed, rubbing Peter’s arm as he cried. The nurse had had his doubts about Tony, Peter and the whole mess they had created and who really was at fault. But, there was something so sincere and vulnerable with the boy’s whimpering and pitiful crying. Steve had heard patients cry plenty before for all kinds of reasons, but this seemed more genuine than what he had ever heard before.

It seemed like once Peter had started crying, there was no way of stopping. The stress from the day spent at court, plus the adrenaline from his argument with Harley were slowly leaving his body in the form of anguished tears, and soon he was slumped against the nurse with very little energy. “Stevie? Do people- Are people mad at me? Cos it’s my fault?” He asked quietly. If he was more aged up, he might have been aware of how heavy the question was, but in his headspace Peter could only say what he felt.

”Oh, Peter.” Steve sighed, moving a bit so that he could wrap both arms around the boy and hold him tighter, but still give him room to cry as much as he needed. At the tough question, the nurse paused and thought for a few seconds. ”What happened was not your fault, Peter. It was all just- very unfortunate.” The nurse tried.

Peter shook his head at that. “Harley said ‘s my fault. Said I- I t-tricked Daddy into b-being in love with me.” He said, fumbling with Spidey in his lap. “Want him back.” He whimpered, his bottom lip now trembling violently as he burst into a fresh set of tears. “‘s all my fault, Stevie, I-I ruined e-everything!” He wailed.

”No, no, buddy, you didn’t ruin everything.” Steve tried to comfort, although they both knew now that Peter had kissed Tony first. No matter what the law said, then the boy was technically also at fault. It was hopelessly tragic for Steve to watch how sad and devastated Peter was over everything that had happened to Tony.

Peter whimpered, shaking his head furiously in disagreement. "Need my Daddy...!" He said, turning his head and burrowing his face into Steve's side for the contact comfort. He cried for a little while longer, but eventually he calmed down into soft whimpers and hiccups. "'n now Harley hates me." He added, wincing at how the other boy had screamed in his face with such anguish he had never seen before.

”I don’t think he hates you, kid. I think he’s just working through some stuff himself.” Steve explained briefly. It wasn’t against facility policy to simply point out that all the patients there were working through some stuff. Fights between patients was more than common, but so were friendships. ”But, what about Loki? I saw him walking out of here too.” The nurse pointed out, changing the topic a bit.

Peter simply shrugged in response, too tired to argue about it. "Y-Yeah, it was three of us in here. Lo... Lo didn't say anythin', he just got scared cos me 'n Harley were yellin' so loud." He mumbled, feeling guilty at how Loki had to witness such a fight between his two friends. "He didn't do anythin' wrong."

”You can always talk to them, you know? Work it out like big boys?” Steve suggested. ”If you think it’s too hard to do by yourself, Buck, me and the others are more than happy to help. It’s really important to us that you all feel comfortable here.”

Peter shook his head. "No, they'll... they'll get mad at me for telling. Don't wanna..." He sighed. "Want cuddles, Stevie." He said quietly, opening his arms out to try and wrap them around the man's broad chest from where he was sat pressed against his side.

”Okay, okay, lets not think about all that now.” Steve assured and opened his arms wider for Peter to climb into. ”You wanna sit on my lap, buddy?” He offered kindly, giving the boy a gentle smile.

"Mhm." Without saying much else, he clambered onto the nurses lap and sat sideways so that his legs spilled over onto the other side of Steve's knees. A strange sense of comfort washed over him as Steve opened his arms up and embraced the boy, and for once Peter was glad that the nurse was so big as it made him feel a lot smaller, a lot safer. He began fiddling with the fabric of Steve's nurse uniform, but otherwise didn't say anything as he leaned his head against the man's chest.

”That’s better.” Steve said quietly, resting his cheek on top of Peter’s head. The nurse had cuddled regressed patients many times during his career and to be honest, he loved it a lot. ”You’re okay, bud, you’re safe here.” Steve added and rocked Peter slightly in his embrace.

"You give good cuddles, Stevie." The boy mumbled, his eyes fluttering shut as he relaxed into the nurse's embrace. The rocking was helping him calm down, and he could feel Steve's heartbeat with his ear pressed against the man's chest. "Do you ever cuddle Buck?" He asked quietly, his voice a little more playful and light-hearted as he mentioned the man's boyfriend.

”Yeah, we cuddle lots. Can you guess which of us is the big spoon?” Steve chuckled, pleased to see that Peter’s tone was starting to sound happier and more calm.

"Hmm... you? Wait, no, Buck! Wait... oh, I dunno, you're both big!" Peter giggled, poking at the nurse's bicep. "I bet Buck likes to be held like a baby." He snorted, laughing at the mental image of Bucky being cuddled in the little spoon position.

”Yeah, Buck is mostly the little spoon, but don’t tell him I told you that, all right?” Steve said and put his pointy finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

Peter gasped, his face split into a grin, but followed the nurse's gesture and put his own index finger to his lips. "Bucky 'n Stevie sittin' in a tree..." He said, still smiling as he watched Steve roll his eyes fondly. He reached back to grab Spidey and bring him over to his chest, combing his fingers through the stuffie's fur.

”This has got to be our little secret, bud.” Steve chuckled and went to rest his cheek on Peter’s head again, enjoying the boy’s warm weight against his torso.

"I know, Stevie. Pinky promise secret." Peter responded. He felt better than before, still nervous about his argument with Harley and exhausted from the day's events in general, but he took solace in cuddling up to the nurse's chest and fiddling with his shirt between his fingertips.

”That’s good, that’s good.” Steve sighed with a smile before resting his head back against the wall. He stayed silent for a while, just holding Peter close and rubbing his back till he thought of something and spoke gently. ”How are you feeling about going to court tomorrow?”

Peter shrugged. "Dunno. Will I... get to see Daddy again?" He asked, looking down at his stuffie, who stared back at him with its beady black eyes. He hated how different Tony had looked when Peter saw him, he had looked unkempt and nervous which the boy had never seen before.

”Yeah, he’ll be there when the verdict is announced.” Steve explained. ”But, it’s like today, you can’t speak to him or anything, I’m afraid.” He added.

Peter made a soft whimpering noise at that. "But I wanna talk to him. Wanna say I miss him." He pouted, his better mood slowly dissipating as he thought about the court case and the thought of seeing Tony but not being able to communicate with him. "Do you... think he's mad at me?"

Steve thought for a moment before answering. ”I don’t know, kid, but to me, the look Tony gave you was not hateful. If he is hating anyone, then it’s himself. I’ve known him for quite a while.” The nurse chuckled a little.

That didn't settle Peter's nerves. If anything it made it worse. "Don't want him to... to hate himself. Want him to be happy." He murmured, looking up at Steve with wide, watery eyes. They held eye contact for a brief moment before Peter looked away, sniffing once more. "How long have you known him?"

Steve literally felt his heart break into two at the look Peter gave him and he realised just how much Peter actually loved Tony. He felt for the boy, he really did, but he didn’t know if he could trust Tony to be as innocent and genuine as the boy. ”Oh, gosh, it’s been ages now.” The nurse sighed a little as he thought. ”I think we met at a conference once, but we didn’t really get to know each other before we started working together- what’s it been now? Seven or eight years?”

"Wow..." Peter mumbled. "That's a long time. You guys are ancient, Stevie." He said, a small giggle escaping him. "Was he always so... cocky?" He asked, looking back up at Steve with attentive eyes, like he was waiting for Steve to tell him a story.

 “Yeah, he kinda has been, yeah.” Steve chuckled as he remembered starting working at the facility a year after Tony had arrived. The doctor had been cocky from day one it seemed, but he was good, so he got away with it. But, Pepper still dropped by now and then to keep him in check, as she was the only one who had authority over him. However, Steve did not tell Peter all of this as he did not find it appropriate. “It’s almost bedtime, kiddo. Do you think you can sleep? I can help you out if you feel restless.” The nurse offered.

Peter smiled gently at the thought of Tony always being a show-off. However, at the mention of bedtime, he grumbled. "Don't wanna go to bed..." He whined petulantly, sounding more little than ever in those five words. He squirmed to hold onto Steve tighter, maybe in the hopes that he wouldn't leave just yet. Spidey remained balanced on his lap while Peter buried his face into Steve's shirt.

 “Tell me why, so I can help you out and make sure you’re comfy.” Steve instructed and continued to hold Peter in his embrace, rubbing one hand up and down his back in a soothing gesture.

"If I go to bed, then... it means its tomorrow. Th-That means I have to go back to... to court, 'n court's scary." Peter answered quietly, relaxing against the man as he felt a large hand gently pet his back. "A-And they'll say what... what happens to Daddy, 'n what if its bad? 's my fault if its bad." He mumbled.

 “Hey, hey, we talked about this already. This is not your fault, Peter.” Steve stressed, placing his hand at the back of the boy’s neck and rubbed to emphasise his point. “I know it’s gonna be scary, but I will be there with you the whole time and we can leave whenever you like.” The nurse explained.

 “Harley said ‘s my fault...” Peter muttered, but didn’t press the argument further. He tilted his head forward to expose more of the back of his neck, finding the contact comforting. “I don’t want him to go.” He said quietly, tangling and untangling his fingers in Steve’s shirt.

 “I know, kid.” Steve sighed softly and continued to rub the boy’s neck since it seemed to have a positive effect. “But, you’ll be okay, you’ll be okay.”

Peter made a soft whimpering noise in response, but became more relaxed the more that Steve rubbed his neck. “‘N you promise you’ll be there with me? Pinky promise?” He asked, offering up his pinky finger despite having his face against the man’s chest.

Steve chuckled softly when Peter sat up to offer his pinky finger. The nurse wrapped his own around the boy’s finger and shook their hands. “Pinky promise. And if you promise not to tell Rhodey, we can get McDonalds on our way back again. How does that sound?”

Peter gasped, leaning back and sitting up on Steve's lap properly so that they could see each others faces. "McDonalds again?" He asked excitedly, his pinky finger still wrapped tightly around the nurse's. "This is why you're cooler than Bucky." He grinned as he shook their hands about playfully. "Won't tell Rhodey, promise.”

"Don't tell Bucky either!" Steve yelped a little before laughing. "Don't tell anyone, okay? Just you and me?" The nurse said and gave Peter a pointy look.

"Won't tell, won't tell!" Peter nodded, wriggling his hand away from Steve's so that he could put his index finger to his lips, and then broke down into giggles when Steve chuckled. "Only if you don't tell Buck I said that... that you're secretly cooler than him."

 “Of course I won’t.” Steve smiled and patted Peter’s back. “You feeling calmer now, kiddo? You really should get some sleep.” The nurse suggested.

Peter shrugged, not looking pleased at the concept of having to go to bed. "Still don't wanna..." He mumbled, unwrapping his arms from around Steve to fumble with his hands in his lap. He gathered Spidey up and cuddled the stuffie to his chest, looking up at Steve with wide eyes. "Will you, uhm... will you tuck me in?" He asked quickly and quietly, like he was embarrassed to ask.

“I’d be more than happy to.” Steve smiled before standing up with Peter still in his arms before setting him down on the floor. “You go ahead and get ready for bed with Spidey and I’ll wait right here.” The nurse assured with a friendly smile.

Peter stumbled a little when Steve put him down, but nodded and reached to grab his pyjamas from under his pillow before scurrying off to the bathroom. He quickly got changed and brushed his teeth, taking a moment to look at himself in the mirror. He looked tired, and childlike in his Star Wars pyjamas clutching his soft toy, but he didn't pay much attention to that before he left the bathroom. He entered back into his room to see Steve still waiting and cleared his throat to announce he was back.

 “Okay, hop in.” Steve smiled and patted the bed before rising up. The boy looked adorable in his pyjamas while clutching his stuffie.

Peter nodded, shuffling over and looking over at Steve nervously before clambering into the bed. He purposefully left the duvet a little messed up in case Steve was actually going to tuck him in. He cuddled Spidey tightly to his chest and squirmed to get comfortable, turned on his side to face the nurse.

 “That’s better. Now, lets get you all comfy.” Steve said as he straightened the duvet before patting around Peter’s frame to tuck him in. He finished up by pulling the duvet slightly higher up so that Peter could tuck his nose in if he wanted to before sitting next to him on the bed. “Want me to sit with you till you fall asleep?”

Peter was finding it difficult to hide his smile as Steve tucked him in, and so took to hiding his nose under the duvet so that the nurse couldn't see his face. "Yes please, Stevie." He said quietly, shuffling sideways along the bed to clear space for the nurse to sit. "Are you gonna... gonna be my bodyguard tomorrow again?" He asked, his voice muffled by the sheets.

 “Yeah, of course!” Steve insisted. “Remember the president thing? Maybe we could practice some body tackling in the parking lot.” The nurse joked, hoping it would ease some of Peter’s nerves.

Peter giggled at that. "Gotta be careful, though, Stevie. I might send you through the floor if I try 'n tackle ya." He said, wiggling his toes under the duvet. "'m super strong, didn't you know?" Peter was joking, of course, his upper body strength was lackluster at best but it didn't stop him from poking an arm out from under the covers and flexing it as a joke.

 “Oh, I’m sure you would.” Steve laughed and patted Peter’s back. “But, big and strong boys gotta sleep and rest too.” The nurse reminded and took the boy’s arm to tuck it back under the duvet.

Peter made a mewling noise of complaint when Steve reminded him to sleep, but followed the man’s encouragement to curl back up under the duvet with Spidey in hand. “Everyone’s gonna be jealous... cos I get a bodyguard...” He yawned, stifling as best he could with the back of his hand before wriggling to get comfortable again. “You’ll have... sunglasses ‘n... ‘n an ear thingy...” he mumbled mindlessly, letting his eyes shut as he slowly drifted off with thoughts of Bodyguard Steve floating around his head. It didn’t take long before he was fast asleep, the events of the day and exhaustion hitting him like a ton of bricks.

 “Yeah.” Steve said quietly, brushing back some curls from Peter’s now closed eyes. “I’ll watch out for you, kid.” He added just as quietly before falling silent and listening closely to the boy’s breaths. After a while they became heavier and deeper and Steve knew Peter had fallen asleep. Very slowly, the nurse stood up and went to exit the room, leaving the boy to rest before the big day.


	89. 89

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the verdict.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yell at us on tumblr:
> 
> rafni: professional-benaddict.tumblr.com  
> richie: sunflowerstarker.tumblr.com

The next morning was awkward.

Peter woke and got dressed in his normal clothes first so that he could attend breakfast, and was forced to sit by himself in the canteen after a scathing glare from Harley had him rethinking his approach to the boy’s table. Loki was sat with him and didn’t even look in Peter’s direction when this occurred, though Peter could see a flush of red on the boy’s usually pale cheeks. He ate his food as quickly as possible, and then headed back to his room to get changed into his suit once more. He met Steve outside in the reception, and they headed to the courthouse just like they had done before.

As they pulled up in the parking lot, Peter’s hands that were clasping his backpack were now visibly shaking.

After shutting the engine off, Steve sighed a little and turned to look at Peter who was obviously wrecked with nerves. The nurse placed a hand on his shoulder to ground him. “Hey, you with me, kiddo?”

Peter was so in his own head that the hand on his shoulder caused him to flinch with surprise, and a little squeak escaped him as he looked over to see Steve watching him concernedly. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine..." He nodded, turning back to look in front of him with his bottom lip caught between his teeth. All he could think about were the hundreds of different ways that today could go wrong, each new idea piling on top of him.

 “Just so you know, we can leave whenever you want.” Steve reminded. “And I’m with you the whole time.”

"I know, Stevie." Peter nodded, but continued to chew on his bottom lip while fiddling with his backpack. "We should, uhm, we should probably go in." He mumbled, looking over to unbuckle his seatbelt with trembling hands.

 “Yeah, lets get it over with.” Steve agreed and moved to get out of the car. They walked up the steps leading to the front door and got in line to let the front desk know they had arrived. Soon enough, they were sat in the courtroom, waiting for everyone to gather, but most importantly for the judge, jury, prosecutor and defense to arrive.

“You okay, Peter?” Steve murmured to the boy.

Peter followed Steve almost mindlessly through the entire process of getting into the courtroom, but when they sat down he suddenly became alert. He glanced around, trying to see if he could see Tony, but soon slumped on the bench when he realised that he couldn't. "Tony's not here yet." He said quietly, his voice wavering slightly as he tried his best to keep the sadness out of it.

 “He’ll be here soon.” Steve said as he studied the room. He didn’t recognise anyone, but then his eyes fell upon Stephen at the other side of the courtroom. A moment later Pepper also stepped into the room, giving Steve a tight smile before going to sit by Stephen.

Peter continued to look around, and also spotted Strange at the other end of the room after a few seconds. A cold flush went through him when he saw the doctor, but that was quickly replaced with confusion when a smartly-dressed, impressive woman sat down next to him and began talking to him. "Why's Strange here? And... and who's that next to him?" He asked Steve quietly, gesturing minutely with his head to over where the two were sat.

 “Strange witnessed the day before you, so he also gets to be here.” Steve explained and watched as Stephen and Pepper greeted one another, although it wasn’t a very happy greeting before they started murmuring to one another with serious faces. “And that’s Pepper Potts, she runs the Rosewood facility AKA the big boss. She also witnessed after Strange.”

"Huh... I've never seen her before. So she runs everything? She's your boss?" Peter asked, still watching the two converse. "She's scary lookin'. Have you ever seen her mad?" He tried to joke, but the joke did little to settle his nerves.

 “Yeah, she rarely comes to Rosewood even though she owns the place, so that’s why you haven’t seen her.” Steve explained as was about to continue, but then the judge walked in along with the jury.

Peter opened his mouth to ask more, but promptly shut it when the judge came in. It was the same judge as before, along with the same jury, but they still looked as scary as before as they all filed in. Peter kept his eye on the door, waiting for Tony to also walk in while everybody took their seats. His nerves were truly beginning to show now, with his leg bouncing against the floor like a jackhammer.

When the judge entered, everyone stood up in an instant and remained that way till the judge told them all to sit. He then requested the police officer to bring in the defendant. With a sharp nod, the officer went to bring Tony in, who was once more handcuffed and lead to the table in front of the judge where his lawyers were sat at.

Once sat back down, Peter's eyes were fixed on the door. His heart pounded in his chest as he waited, but once he actually saw Tony it was like his heart stopped entirely. It was heartbreaking seeing the man like this, and Peter gripped the edge of his seat with white knuckles as he resisted the urge to either get up and run to him or to just burst into tears. He swallowed the lump in his throat, but it returned as quickly as it disappeared.

Steve could feel how Peter was practically vibrating next to him with nerves and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder to ground him somehow, but it seemed to have little effect.

“Has the jury reached a verdict?” The judge asked, aiming the question at the jury.

The man sat closest to the judge stood up before speaking. “Yes, your Honour.”

Peter could barely feel the hand on his shoulder, his eyes fixated on the back of Tony's head. Every so often he glanced over to the judge, but other than that he only had eyes for his former doctor. His hands were sweating in his lap and he was trembling, but he tried to stay still and calm as the entire court waited for the man on the jury to speak once more.

Steve sat up a little in his seat, trying to get closer as if that would speed things up in any way.

The judge then asked the jury to announce their verdict. The man nodded before speaking again.

“The jury found the defendant to be...”

The suspense was killing Peter. His leg was going so fast that in the back of his mind, he was mildly concerned that he was going to drill a hole through the floor.

However, he didn’t take his eyes off of Tony.

Nothing in that moment would make him take his eyes off of Tony.

”Guilty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the fic is NOT ENDING HERE. we hope you'll stick around to see what happens. x


	90. 90

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More at court and the immediate aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Rafni here, taking over for updates for now! On the previous chapter, we got some comments asking about the logic behind Tony's sentence. We are very much aware that Tony's actions are not punishable like this IRL, but we want it to be to create an emotional third act for our story. We hope you can put aside the law for now, and just enjoy the more emotional aspects of the story instead. To be completely honest, Richie and I are not keen on hearing why our story does not match the current laws in the US when we provide this story for free and we hope you guys can understand that.  
> But, I'd also like to say thank you for all the positive comments on the last chapter. We totally get that you are upset, but it will all work out in the end! And we hope you stick around to read that when it comes c:

"Guilty."

And in one word, Peter’s entire world had collapsed around him. He watched as Tony hung his head, and the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears drowned out the murmurs of those around him. “No… No, no, no…!” He mumbled, first in disbelief but his voice soon got louder and more anguished. “No, please, please…” His breathing was shaky as tears filled his vision and his face contorted. “He can’t- They- no, no, no!”

The whole courtroom began murmuring loudly in response, some happy, some outraged. The prosecutor’s lawyer smirked in triumph while Tony lowered his head in shame. He had prepared for the worst, but also hoped for the best and all hope seemed lost to him now. Tony didn’t dare turn and look at Peter as the look on the boy’s face would only make his hell worse.

“Peter...” Steve whispered, shaking Peter’s shoulder gently. 

“Silence!” The judge demanded and after a moment or two, the courtroom fell more or less silent.

“They can’t d-do that, he’s not- he isn’t-“ Peter babbled, turning when Steve shook his shoulder. He could hear the judge calling for silence but he barely paid it any mind as he looked at Steve with wild, upset eyes. “He’s not g-guilty, he can’t be, this- they’re wrong, they’ve got- gotta be wrong, he-“ Peter was talking at a hundred miles a minute in hushed tones, but his body began to shake more and more.

“Peter, it’s okay, just breathe for me, okay?” Steve instructed in a hushed voice, hating the idea of the judge throwing them out of the courtroom for disturbing. Considering the jury’s decision, the judge nodded before clearing his throat. 

“Anthony Stark, I sentence you to 18 months in prison. Your psychiatry license will also be revoked for life, effective immediately.”

“It’s not okay, it’s not okay, it’s not okay!” Peter whimpered, his eyes flickering from Steve’s face to over to where Tony was sat with his head still bowed. “T- He can’t go, he can’t go, I /need/ him, Stevie, I-“ Peter’s gaze suddenly fell on Strange, who was watching what was happening with a solemn look on his face. Peter’s breath got caught in his throat, and the phrase ’18 months in prison’ rattled around his head. He looked back to Tony. “Daddy…!” He cried softly, and his vision started to fade as his breathing became quicker and more unsteady with no sign of getting better.

“Peter, let’s go outside.” Steve said and stood up while taking a hold of Peter’s upper arm. The nurse had recognised the panic attack just a second too late and cursed at himself. When Peter cried out, Tony turned in his seat and his stomach dropped to the floor at the distraught look on Peter’s face. 

“Peter...” Tony mouthed softly, causing the judge to call for silence once more.  
Finally, Peter and Tony made eye contact. It was hard to tell who was more distraught in that moment as Peter was being hauled up out of his seat. 

“N-No, no, I don’t wanna- They’re wr-wrong, he can’t be guilty! No, please, /please/!” He tried hopelessly to claw at Steve’s hand in an attempt to get the nurse to let go of him, and when that didn’t work he tried to pull himself forward so that he could get closer to Tony. However, the sudden movement proved too much for him, and combined with the lack of proper oxygen he was quickly losing consciousness, though he continued calling out for Tony like he was a child having a nightmare.

”Peter!” Steve shouted out when Peter suddenly fell limp and luckily he caught the boy before he hit the floor face first. The nurse eased the boy down to the floor, checking for a pulse as people gathered around. 

“No, please no... Peter!” Tony shouted out and tried to get up to rush to the boy, but was unable to with the handcuffs and the police officers that jumped up to hold him in place.Peter could vaguely hear his name being called, but it sounded like it was being filtered through cotton buds in his ears. 

“Tuh- Tony… ‘m sorry…” He slurred almost incomprehensibly before he lost consciousness entirely.  
Both Pepper and Stephen had watched this happen from across the room, and pushed through the small gathering of people that had formed around the boy. Stephen crouched along with Steve while Pepper simply stood back and watched. 

“We need to get him out of here.” Stephen said to the nurse, trying to ignore the feeling of his own heart breaking at how the boy had almost fought to be by his former co-worker’s side before he had passed out. While Stephen and Steve assessed Peter’s condition quickly, Pepper began calling for an ambulance. 

“Peter! Stephen, what’s going on?” Tony cried out desperately while the officers dragged him out of the courtroom after the judge ordered them to do so. Stephen glanced up at the sound of his name, but barely made eye contact with Tony for a second before the man was being pulled out of the courtroom to God-knows-where. He watched the empty space for a few seconds after his friend disappeared, but looked back down at Peter when Pepper told them that an ambulance was on its way. The boy, although unconscious, still had remnants of a look of pain etched across his face.

“Fuck! Let me fucking go! He needs me!” Tony shouted, just before the door was slammed shut behind him. He would probably never find out what happened to Peter.

\---

Fuck, Peter’s head hurt. He groaned quietly, slowly and groggily lifting a hand to his temple. He became confused, however, when he realised there was something plastic clipped to his finger. He opened his eyes slowly and his stomach dropped as he saw he was in a hospital bed back in the ward.

“Wha…?” He blinked slowly a few times, trying to clear his head.

“Hey, lay back, Peter.” Stephen said gently as he came up to the boy’s bedside along with Steve. Both men were still dressed in their suits from court, but they had taken their jackets off and rolled up the sleeves of their shirts. 

“It’s okay, you’re at the facility on the ward. Rhodey’s on his way.” Steve informed, guessing Peter must be feeling quite confused.

“What happened? Did I… did I pass out?” Peter asked, ignoring Strange’s instruction for him to lay back against his pillow. If anything he did the opposite, shuffling so that he could sit up. He looked down at his hand, which had a pulse oximeter clipped to the tip of his index finger, and then over to the screen which showed his vitals. “How long have I been in here?”

“Yeah, you passed out in the courtroom. Do you remember anything about that?” Stephen asked while Steve placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and back to help him sit up. 

“We’ve been back for an hour or so.” The nurse added with a little smile.

“I remember… I think I remember someone sayin’ my name. And I- I remember Tony.” Peter said quietly, dead weight already settling on his chest from the memory of the judge announcing Tony’s prison sentence. He didn’t look at Stephen or Steve, instead gazing directly in front of him with a defeated, upset look on his face. Stephen nor Steve said anything in response to that, as there was very little to be said. Tony was going to prison and would never be practicing psychiatry or any sort of medicine nor social work ever again. After a moment, Rhodey walked into the ward and offered his patient a little smile, trying to catch his eye. 

“Hey, Peter.”

Peter's hands were in his lap, and he started to crack his knuckles nervously as he thought about Tony. 

"Hi, Rhodes." He said quietly, not even looking at the doctor when he came in. He felt the need to cry again, but he wasn't sure how that was possible as it felt like he had cried every last ounce of water out of his body in the last few days.

“Shall we talk a bit, just the two of us?” The doctor suggested, having heard from Pepper what happened at court. Both Steve and Stephen turned to the boy to see what he would say.  
Peter shook his head gently. 

"No, it's okay... These guys saw what happened, not much point in sending them out." He mumbled, continuing to crack his knuckles without looking at any of the adults in the room. He raised one hand to scratch the underside of his chin, but winced when he remembered that his hand still had the oximeter clipped to it.

“All right.” Rhodey nodded and pulled up a chair to sit by Peter’s bedside while Stephen and Steve stood by the foot of the bed. “Peter, I need you to understand what happened at court today. Stark is going to prison for the way he treated you as a patient. Do you know what that means?”

Peter sighed, and finally got the strength to look Rhodey in the face. The doctor was watching him with a concerned look, but Peter was too tired to really care at that point. 

"Yeah. He- They said it was professional misconduct." He said, the implication that Peter didn't agree clear to everyone in the room. "So now he's had his... his license taken away, and he has to go to jail."

“Yeah, he does.” Rhodey confirmed with a nod. “But, this means that you could press charges against Stark and I know you’ve said you don’t want to do that, but I just need to inform you that you could. And that you could most likely win in court against him, since he’s been found guilty already once.”

"What, and ruin his life more than I already have? Yeah, that's a no." Peter scoffed, turning to arrange his pillow so that he could sit more comfortably against it. He stopped looking at Rhodey once he turned back around, instead choosing to stare intently at Steve's knees.

“That’s okay and completely up to you, Peter.” Rhodey said. “I just had to make sure you knew of your options while you’re still here.” When Peter did not respond, Rhodey spoke again, but changed the topic a bit. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

Peter didn’t respond to Rhodey, but raised his gaze so that he was now looking at Strange. 

“Why’d you do it?” He asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly with desperation and heartbreak. As he looked Strange in the face, he noted the man’s eyes: crystal blue, nothing like the warm, deep brown that he was used to with Tony. He supposed that was a sign of how truly different they were, but he didn’t say anything more. When Peter asked his accusing question, Stephen raised his gaze and blinked once before answering. 

“I had to.” The doctor answered simply with a shrug. “Stark broke the law and I would have gotten in trouble too if I kept what I saw to myself.”

“No you didn’t.” Peter shook his head. “You didn’t have to do a fucking thing. I wasn’t his patient any more, I- we were happy.” He said, his voice laced with venom and anger, but sadness still showed on his face. He turned his gaze away from Strange to look back down at his lap. “I used to tease him all the time, say that you were better than him. I don’t know if that’s true any more, though.” He said bluntly, and he let out a heavy sigh through his nose before looking at Steve who was watching him with a worried expression. He finally smiled, but it was something sad. “Sorry you had to see me pass out, Stevie. That wasn’t cool. You’re a good bodyguard though.”

Stephen was about to argue, but Rhodey gave him a look which told him not to. Instead, Stephen left the room quietly, guessing his presence didn’t do any good for Peter. 

“I think I failed quite terribly at being your bodyguard. You passed out on my watch!” Steve joked a little, moving to sit next to Peter on his bed.

“Noooo, you were good. That wasn’t your fault. Besides, I would’ve ended up on the floor anyway if you decided to tackle me, so I just saved you a job.” Peter snorted, shuffling a little to make room for Steve. “Still think we should’ve gotten you some sunglasses though.” He mumbled, looking over distractedly at the screen showing the status of his vitals. “How long do I have to be in here?” Peter turned to Rhodey to ask, seeing as he was still sat by Peter’s bedside.

Steve huffed out a chuckle, glad to see that Peter had his sense of humour and at least wasn’t hostile towards him, unlike he was with everyone else. Well, besides Tony, whom he obviously wanted more than anything else. The nurse had a feeling he would have to keep a close eye on Peter for Rhodey.

“Just for the afternoon to keep an eye on you and then you can sleep in your own room tonight.” Rhodey said.Peter simply nodded in response to Rhodey’s answer. 

“Hey, uhm, Stevie? Did you... You got my backpack, right?” He asked, fidgeting nervously. He remembered holding onto it before he passed out, but it wasn’t with him when he woke up. Despite Rhodey being in the room, he needed Spidey now more than ever and was looking around nervously for his backpack.

Nodding promptly, Steve got up and went to the other side of the room where he had left Peter’s backpack. He brought it over to the boy, smiling knowingly as he guessed why Peter wanted it. 

“Is there anything else you’d like to talk about before I leave you to rest?” Rhodey asked.  
Peter pursed his lips in thought, but ultimately shook his head. 

“No, ‘m okay.” He said, taking the backpack graciously when it was handed to him by the nurse. He didn’t get the stuffie out just yet, seeing as it looked like Rhodey was about to leave anyway, but cradled the bag to his chest like he was hugging the stuffie regardless. “I guess that means Steve’s going too?” He said, glancing over at the nurse in question.

“Not if you want me to stay.” Steve offered with a smile while Rhodey stood up to make some notes in Peter’s chart before leaving. “I’m your bodyguard, remember?” The nurse said with a wink.  
Even despite his terrible mood, Peter huffed an amused breath out of his nose at that. 

“Yeah, you are, Jeeves.” He said quietly, and patted the mattress to indicate that Steve could sit with him. “I-“ He started, but sighed when he couldn’t find the words to begin with. “I don’t want Tony in jail. He- I’m never gonna see him again, and I know you say it’s not my fault but it /is/.”

Steve moved to sit next to Peter again and sighed softly when the boy mentioned Tony again.

“I know, kid.” The nurse said softly before opening Peter’s backpack for him, taking Spidey out before helping the boy lay back. Rhodey listened to their conversation as he continued to write in Peter’s chart. The doctor was at least comforted to know that Peter was talking to someone, even if it wasn’t him. Peter took Spidey in both hands, cuddling the spider tightly to his chest as he followed the nurse’s instruction to lie back down. 

“Do you... think he’s mad at me?” He asked, his voice muffled as he cuddled Spidey under his chin. He had already asked that question the day before, but thoughts of Tony being mad at him because of the sentencing made him nervous. “I-I would understand if he was.” He rambled, squirming under the covers but not too much that he dislodged the various wires around him.

“I don’t know, Peter.” Steve said honestly, lifting a hand to rub at Peter’s arm. Finishing up with the chart, Rhodey went to leave the room quietly, knowing Steve would fill him in on anything significant Peter said later. Peter hummed quietly to himself for a moment. 

“When, uhm, when I was staying at Tony’s whole May was in hospital, we... we had a conversation about whether I deserved what was happening, like whether the universe was picking on me for a reason.” He took a shaky in-breath, but continued. “I dunno if the file says this, but... my parents died when I was a kid, and then my Uncle Ben- he got killed by a burglar, and then May being stabbed... I really wondered how it could get worse for me, you know? I wondered but I thought I didn’t have to worry, because I had Tony. But now-“ Peter knew he was rambling, and a lump was forming in his throat, but he persisted. “Now I really think the universe is out to get me. It’s taken everything, I- I don’t know what else it could be.”

Steve gave Peter a sympathetic look and continued to rub his arm gently. 

“You think you deserve this?” The nurse asked to be sure he understood the boy correctly.Peter nodded, avoiding Steve's gaze by moving his stuffie to arm's length and looking at it. 

"I dunno what I did, but... I can't think of anything else that would explain it." He mumbled, fiddling with Spidey's legs and making them cross over one another.

“What about all the good things in your life? You have some friends at home, right?” Steve asked, trying to widen Peter’s perspective on things.Peter shrugged. 

"Yeah, two." He said scathingly. "Ned and MJ, and they probably don't even care that I've been gone for so long. Barely anyone noticed at school." He said, before huffing and falling back on his pillow so that he was staring up at the ceiling.

”When’s the last time you talked to them?” Steve asked.

"I dunno, like a few weeks ago? It's hard cos they're in school when I get phone privileges, so I can never call them." Peter replied, turning onto his side so that he could see Steve properly.

“Hmm, I see.” Steve hummed and nodded, glad to still have Peter talking and not actively avoiding him. “What about your aunt? When’s the last time you talked to her?”

"A few days ago, cos I had to tell her I was going to court and I needed smart clothes." Peter mumbled, tracing patterns into the fabric of the duvet mindlessly. "I don't know how 'm gonna tell her what happened in court. She thought he was the bad guy as well."

“Have you talked about it with her? What does she think?” Steve asked further.

"She said that... she was glad that I'd be able to share my side of the story 'n stuff, but she seemed pretty convinced that Tony was the... the /villain/ of the story or whatever." Peter replied. "I-I don't really wanna... he's..." He soon trailed off, not wanting to talk about it any more.

“He what?” Steve tried when Peter trailed off and didn’t complete his sentence.

"He's not the bad guy, Stevie." Peter said shakily. "I-I /saw/ them, all the people in that courtroom, they all looked so pleased with themselves. That- That lady who was asking me questions yesterday, she had this smile on her face and... I just wanted to punch that stupid smile off of her face." He said, hiccuping on his words as he became upset once more.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Steve comforted when Peter began getting really upset. “Take some deep breaths for me, okay? You’ve had a rough day, so take it easy.” Peter was still upset, but he tried his best to keep his breathing steady.

"Sorry." He mumbled in embarrassment. "It's just... yeah. It's not his fault, but they're treating him like some kind of... some kind of supervillain. It's fucking stupid."

”No need to apologise, kid.” Steve assured with a friendly smile. ”I think it’s good that you don’t think of him as a villain. Hating people takes more energy than loving them. Or at least that’s what I think.” The nurse said with a little shrug. Peter hummed in general agreement, but snorted softly. 

"You sound like a real hippie, there, Stevie. I thought Buck would be the hippie out of the two of you, what with his long hair 'n stuff." He joked, but his stomach still swirled with anxiety and sadness. Steve laughed at that and waved his hand at Peter to make him shut up playfully. 

”I guess. Bucky likes to think he’s more punk rock than hippie though.” The nurse chuckled. Peter giggled lightly, dodging Steve's swats. 

"He thinks he's punk rock but he prefers being the little spoon?" He raised his eyebrow with a cheeky grin on his face. "If I wasn't put under oath to not tell any of this to him, I'd tease him every day until the end of time."

”Noo, poor Bucky.” Steve whined playfully. ”Well, actually poor me because he would strangle me.” The nurse corrected before turning more serious. ”You feeling hungry? Sadly, we didn’t get to go on our super secret mission to McDonalds today, but you should still eat.”

Almost as if Peter's stomach had heard the call for food, it growled and the boy glared at his own torso. 

"Yeah, I guess so. I was hoping maybe you could've snuck some chicken nuggets onto the ambulance, but oh well. Do you know what the canteen are doing for lunch?"

”I doubt paramedics like bringing junk food along.” Steve laughed before rising from the bed. ”I’ll go check what they have made. Be right back.” The nurse assured with a smile before leaving the room.

"M'kay." Peter nodded, watching Steve leave the room. When the door shut, he was left alone, and the silence of the room was almost deafening. He looked down at Spidey, who was cuddled close to his chest, and rubbed his fingers through the stuffie's fur to try and calm himself. A tear crept out of his eye and slid down the side of his face, but he brushed it away quickly. Crying was useless now, what's done was done and Peter couldn't do anything about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, can we get an amen for Stevie??


	91. 91

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months after the trial. (Month 2 of 18)

Peter woke slowly out of bed, his eyelids heavy as he tried to blink the sleep dust away from them. Images from his dream last night filtered in and out of his mind’s eye, and he groaned quietly as details of it came back to him. His dreams only ever seemed to be about Tony, ranging from happy ones where they were together peacefully to heartbreaking ones where he had to watch the man he loved get dragged away from him with manacles and chains. His dream last night was one of the latter, but he tried to ignore it as he put his usual hoodie and sweatpants on. He headed to breakfast, and then returned to his room where he wrote what had happened in a diary that Rhodey suggested he started.

Despite Rhodey being Peter’s doctor, Steve was the one the boy sought out and talked to the most. The nurse was more than happy to help the boy and knew that he had been picked out from the dozens of staff members and with Peter’s history of losing people close to him, Steve could not disappoint the boy. So, he stayed close and to his best ability, tried to keep Peter comfortable.

But, despite his best efforts along with Rhodey’s, Peter’s mental state kept declining, almost resembling the boy that arrived at Rosewood for the first time. Everyone knew the reason to Peter’s depression, but no one really talked about it.

“Peter, buddy, it’s time to go.” Steve said after knocking on Peter’s door.

“‘Kay.” Peter mumbled, finishing his sentence in his diary before snapping it shut and stuffing it under his arm. His diary contained nearly every day of his thoughts over the last two months, but a lot of the pages were filled by dreams and nightmares of Tony that plagued the boy when he was asleep at night. He was tired, with permanent bags under his eyes from waking up at 3am, but at this point the exhaustion melted along with everything else in his head.

He pushed his hand through his hair, catching it on various tangles and knots, as he exited his room and walked alongside the nurse to Rhodey’s office. Once they got there, Peter simply lifted a hand to wave Steve off before knocking on Rhodey’s door and slipping inside.

When Peter knocked on his door, Rhodey got up and greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Hi, Peter.” Moving to sit across one another like usual, Rhodey took a few seconds to study the boy. He looked overall rough, with bags under his eyes and messy hair. The boy was not taking care of himself like he used to, which the psychiatrist found very troubling.

“Hi, Rhodes.” Peter mumbled, moving to sit in his usual seat. He hadn’t called Rhodes ‘Rhodey’ since Tony’s trial, same with how he only addressed the nurses by their last names. He had lost his old, childlike spark in the two months that had transpired, but he didn’t particularly care. He didn’t care about much any more. He brought his legs up so he could sit in a lotus position on the seat, with his diary grasped tightly in his hands.

“So, what have you been writing in your diary?” Rhodey began by asking, which he had done since he gave Peter the diary. It was a good way of starting the sessions, so they always got straight to the point.

Peter looked down at the little book in question, fanning through the pages with his thumb. Nearly all the pages had writing on them, and some pages had doodles that Peter had crudely drawn of his nightmares and inner thoughts.

“I had another nightmare last night, about…” He couldn’t even say the man’s name any more, each time he tried the word died on his tongue and he was left speechless. “I-It was the one with the chains again, they were holding him back away from me and- and I couldn’t get to him.”

Rhodey nodded thoughtfully. He knew most of the details of the nightmare Peter was describing, as well as the different versions of it. Sometimes Peter would fall, but other times he would startle awake before the dream had even started properly.

“And how scared were you when you woke up on the scale?” The psychiatrist asked, as after the fifth time Peter described the nightmare, Rhodey had suggested a scare scale from 1-10 to indicate his level of fear. It was a simple, but very valuable tool in their sessions.

“Uhm… a four, maybe? I- I heard his voice, which doesn’t… doesn’t happen often.” Peter mumbled, fiddling with the corner of one of the dog-eared pages between his fingertips. “But it- the dream wasn’t as bad as it could have been, which I guess is a good thing.”

”And what did he say?” Rhodey asked, not mentioning Tony by name either.

“He said…” Peter faltered at that, remembering how anguished Tony had sounded in his dream. In fact, he could barely remember what the man had said at all, all he could remember was the raw emotion in his voice. “I-I think he said my name. I can’t really remember. I just remember him sounding… hurt, and- and angry.” He said, finally looking up at Rhodes for a moment.

”Angry?” This was new to Rhodey, but he did remember Steve telling him that Peter felt very guilty for what happened to Tony.

“Yeah. He- It sounded like he was angry at me.” Peter said, looking back down again when Rhodes made eye contact with him. He had never been good at eye contact, but since the trial he had gotten terrible at it, to the point where he didn’t look anyone even remotely in the face any more. He always kept his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the floor, or on whatever he had in his lap. “I-I wouldn’t blame him, though. He’s allowed to be angry.”

”Why would he be angry?” Rhodey asked, curious to hear more of Peter’s reasonings. Peter sighed.

“Cos it’s my fault he’s in prison to begin with.” He said. He hated saying it, as true as he believed it was, as saying it aloud seemed to make it real. “I- I ruined his life. Why wouldn’t he be angry at me?”

”What if he doesn’t hate you? Is that a possibility?” Rhodey suggested, trying to widen Peter’s perspective. Peter shook his head.

“I- I know he does. I’ve taken everything from him, ‘s my fault he’s in prison. He’s gonna be angry about that, and if I’m the one that caused it, he’s gonna be angry at me.” He mumbled, turning the pages of his diary to his most recent entry. Not much was written, but the fact that he heard Tony’s voice was underlined on the page. Rhodey nodded thoughtfully again before Peter flipped through his diary.

“Was there anything else that was different with your dream this time?” “Uhm... no, I don’t think so.” Peter said, poring over his chicken-scratch writing to remember the details of his nightmare. “It was just... the courtroom again, and we were on either end but we couldn’t get closer to each other, and then he said my name... and then I woke up.” He mumbled, briefly looking up at the doctor. He lifted his hand to rub tiredly at his eyes, feeling the prominent bags under them but not particularly caring. “Third nightmare this week.” He said to himself quietly.

“Yeah, I know. And it’s 50/50 whether you fall asleep again, right?” Rhodey asked, remembering what Peter had told him on previous sessions. ”Would you like to try some sleeping aids? Having interrupted sleep like that for a long time is really not good for you.” The doctor explained.

“Yeah.” Peter often had trouble falling asleep after his dreams, with memories of them often keeping him awake until breakfast. It had happened just the other day, where Peter was roused awake by a particularly brutal nightmare in which he was dragged into a prison cell himself while Tony watched and laughed. He had woken at 2:30am, and stayed awake for the rest of the night. “Sleeping aids? I dunno...” As much as Peter hated to admit it, he almost didn’t want to try sleeping aids as they ruined his chances of remembering his happier dreams with Tony. Those were the few bits of happiness he had left, and he wasn’t willing to let go.

”Peter, with your mental state, sleep is incredibly important. I really do think you should try some of the sleeping aids we have here. We can start off with the lowest dose and see how that works, okay?” Rhodey explained, looking at Peter expectantly for an answer. Peter scrunched his face up in a grimace, but shrugged.

“Fine, sure, whatever.” He sighed, slumping back in his seat and unfolding his legs from the lotus position so that he was sat properly on the chair. He continued to flip through the pages of his diary, pausing when he caught a glimpse of a quick doodled portrait of Tony that he had once drawn when he was awake after a nightmare. He stared at it for a few seconds, before closing the diary entirely and putting it on the edge of his seat. “When will I start taking those, then?”

”I would suggest tonight.” Rhodey said. ”Rogers could help you out with it if you want.” He added, knowing that Peter seemed to enjoy the nurse’s company. Peter slowly nodded.

“Okay. Tonight.” He repeated, but he perked up a little at the mention of Rogers. The nurse was the only member of staff that Peter could really tolerate for long periods of time. Barnes and Odinson were both alright, but with Odinson often attending to Loki and Barnes not understanding the full scope of what had happened to Peter these last few months, Rogers was the favourite. “Yeah, Rogers can help.” He parroted. “Will I have to take it every day, like my other meds?”

”I think so, yes, when your nightmares are this unpredictable.” Rhodey said. ”But, I don’t want it to be a permanent thing. Just for a while till we work things through, okay?”

“Right.” Peter muttered, falling silent after that. His fingers itched to pick up the diary and keep reading back through it, to turn to the pages where he wrote his most vivid dreams of Tony.

None of the staff got to read this journal, which was lucky for Peter as he sometimes wrote the... more adult dreams that he had as well as the regular ones and the nightmares. Those dreams were often the worst, as they left Peter achingly hard when he woke up and with the phantom taste of skin on his tongue. Those were some of the dreams, however, that he didn’t want to let go of through the use of sleeping aids. He dragged a hand through his unkempt hair, mildly aware that he was making it even more of a birds nest, and raised his eyes to look at Rhodey.

”So, did you talk to your aunt yesterday?” Rhodey asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah, I did.” Peter had used his phone privileges the previous afternoon to call his aunt, who luckily wasn’t on a shift that day so they were able to talk for longer than usual. “She, uhm, told me that there was a new letter from school. I have to retake the year, and I can’t appeal.” He said, shifting in his seat slightly. It was understandable, the fact that he had missed even more school meant that it was now impossible for Peter to catch up and graduate on time with his friends.

”And how do you feel about that?” Rhodey asked, although he could hear the disappointment in Peter’s tone when he recaped the phonecall with his aunt. On the other hand, the boy had been monotone ever since Tony’s sentence was announced in court. Peter shrugged.

“I’m not surprised. I didn’t think I was going to graduate this year anyway, the letter just confirmed it.” He sighed, taking one hand into the other and cracking his knuckles. “At least I won’t have to deal with Flash Thompson any more.” He said jokingly, but his voice was so deadpan that it didn’t sound like a joke at all.

“Have you thought about retaking the year to graduate later?” Rhodey asked. Peter shrugged.

“I suppose I’ll have to. It’s not like I can ask them to let me back in this year.” He said dully, looking down at his hands and watching his movements as he cracked each knuckle individually. “May was right, I should’ve just retook the year to begin with.” He mumbled.

“You suppose you’ll have to?” Rhodey asked. “Is your aunt making you?”

“No, no.” Peter shook his head. “I want to retake the year myself. It’s not like I can do anything in the future if I drop out of high school.” He said scathingly. “We had a fight about it a while ago though, back before... She thought it was a good idea to restart the year, but I wanted to keep going, and... yeah, it didn’t end well. I should’ve just taken her advice to begin with.”

“I see.” Rhodey nodded, waiting for Peter to continue.

Peter could tell that Rhodey was doing his patented “wait for the patient to keep talking” thing, which always irritated the boy. He was already in a bad enough mood from their conversation about Tony being angry with him, and the awkward silence that filled the doctor’s office was soon unbearable for him. Without saying anything, Peter huffed and got up out of his seat, leaving the session and heading back to his room with his diary clasped tightly in his hand.

Rhodey wasn’t too surprised to see Peter suddenly get up and leave as the boy had done so a few times now. They just didn’t seem to click, which Rhodey didn’t blame either of them for. The boy’s ability to open up to a third psychiatrist was slim, considering everything he had went through with Tony.

Peter spent the rest of the afternoon drawing out his nightmare in his diary. He found that drawing often helped him get the thoughts out of his head, and this time his sketch took up an entire double page. He went to dinner by himself, and it was the late evening by the time he heard a knock on the door.

“It’s open.” He called out, not looking up from his journal.

“Hey, kiddo.” Steve said and entered with a friendly smile. In his hand, the nurse had a little paper cup with the sleeping pills that Rhodey had prescribed. He went to sit down next to Peter on his bed. “Are you journaling the birds you’ve seen today?”

At the sound of Rogers' voice, Peter glanced up.

"Oh, it's you." He said not unkindly, shifting a little to the side to make room for the nurse to sit down. "No, it's- it's nothing." Peter shook his head, hurriedly closing the journal and putting it to one side before Rogers could get a good look at the drawing. "I didn't really get a chance to go outside today." He shrugged, looking back down at his hands. "Why're you here?"

“Ah, maybe tomorrow then.” Steve said with a smile. “And I brought the sleeping aids that Rhodey got for you.” The nurse said and showed the small paper cup. “And you know, to tuck you in again.” Peter's eyes followed the cup dubiously.

"Right. Forgot about those." He muttered, leaning back to grab the journal and toss it over onto his small desk on the other end of the room. At the mention of being tucked in again, a very small, almost unnoticeable smile graced the boy's features. "Right, right... Gimme a minute to get changed?" He said, standing up and stretching out his limbs after being hunched over his book for so long. He grabbed his pyjamas from under his pillow and headed off to the bathroom to get changed.

“Hey, kid, take these first, yeah? It takes half an hour or so for them to start working.” Steve said and gave Peter the cup before he could disappear into the bathroom. Peter looked down at the cup that was thrust into his hands, and then looked back at Rogers. He took the two pills from the cup and opened his mouth to show he was taking them, but once he closed his mouth he carefully moved the pills to under his tongue, and then made a point of pretending to swallow. He opened his mouth enough to show he had "taken" the medication, and then headed into the bathroom to get changed, where he closed the door behind him and promptly spat the sleeping aids into the toilet. He didn't like lying to Rogers like this, but his dreams were the only instances where he could see Tony again, and he didn't want to let go of that so quickly. He got changed and then headed back out to see Rogers waiting patiently on the bed.

“You all ready?” Steve asked and rose from the bed to let Peter lay down. Peter nodded, shuffling forward to climb under the covers and into bed. He saw Spidey resting by his feet, but decided not to lean forward to grab him. Even Spidey reminded him of his old doctor, and he sighed softly as he settled into bed. He still left the covers messy though, so that Rogers could pull them up properly for him.

“What? No Spidey tonight?” Steve asked and grabbed the stuffie when Peter looked at it longingly but didn’t reach for it.

"No... 'm okay." Peter mumbled, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice. He turned onto his side and glanced up at Rogers occasionally, pretending he couldn't see the stuffie in his hands. "Did you see Bucky today?" He asked, hoping to distract the nurse from asking him what was wrong.

“Yeah, I do everyday. We live together, after all.” Steve chuckled, setting the stuffie aside, but close enough for the boy to reach it if he wanted to. “But, he’s been taking the night shifts lately, so I haven’t been seeing him as much as I usually do.” The nurse said, more than happy to talk about something mundane to help the boy feel more ‘normal’. Living at a mental health facility for over two months usually gets to one. Peter's mouth dropped open in shock, but then he shut it again.

"I forgot you guys lived together. That must be nice. Do you cook or does he? Is he a good roommate? Are /you/ a good roommate?" He bombarded the nurse with questions while he squirmed to get comfortable under the covers. He enjoyed hearing about Rogers' day, because it distracted him from everything else going on around him.

“We both cook, and usually big portions too so that we have leftovers to heat up when we are both exhausted and in need of food quick.” Steve chuckled and started to tuck Peter in, patting the duvet and making sure the boy was cozy. “And I think I’m a good roomie.” The nurse said with a snicker. A ghost of a smile tugged on Peter's lips when Rogers began tucking him in, and he held still so that the nurse could do so without much interruption.

"I think you would be. You're a good bodyguard, so..." He mumbled, sliding further under the covers so that only his eyes and the top of his head was showing. "Good Uncle too." He said quietly.

“Yeah, you think so?” The nurse asked with a grin, glad to hear that the boy liked him. He guessed that he provided a lot of comfort for the boy, which he was very happy about considering everything Peter had went through the last few months. “That’s good to hear. You feeling sleepy yet? I’m not leaving, just wondering.” Peter shrugged.

"A little bit. You said... half an hour, right?" He asked. He had to pretend he had taken the medication, pretend that they were working in his system. At the back of his mind, he wondered if he would see Tony tonight in his dreams, and if so what kind of dream it would be. "I wouldn't blame you for leaving, Rogers. I'm not much fun to talk to." He said quietly, his slightly better mood quickly dissipating.

“Half an hour to an hour. And as much as I’d love to talk to you all night, you need the rest. So, don’t stay up to talk to me. Just, close your eyes when they feel heavy and let yourself drift away. These meds work better if you cooperate.” Steve smiled and patted at Peter’s stomach in a comforting gesture.

"M'kay." Peter nodded, looking back over at Spidey. When Rogers patted his stomach he let out a little squeak and wriggled for a split second, before quickly calming down. "Sorry, 'm ticklish." He mumbled in embarrassment, a soft tinge of pink colouring his cheeks. He didn't really know where to look when Rogers sat with him, so he just stared at his feet poking up under the covers.

“Ah, sorry, kid.” Steve chuckled and moved his hand back. The two of them sat quietly for a while before the nurse’s pager beeped and buzzed softly. Checking the pager, Steve sighed. “Ah, I have to go, Peter, I’m sorry. I’ll come back and check on you as soon as I can, okay?” The nurse said apologetically and got up. When the pager went off, Peter's face fell.

"Yeah, that's... that's fine. Whatever." He mumbled, sighing to himself before turning over in bed to face the wall, away from the nurse. "Night, Rogers." He said callously. Logically he knew that it wasn't the nurse's fault that he had to leave, it wasn't like Peter was the only patient in the entire facility, but barely having ten minutes to talk to the only adult he actually liked in the place made him feel alone, and isolated. He shut his eyes and waited for the sound of Rogers leaving the room.

Sighing softly, Steve watched Peter turn on his side and clearly shut himself off. The nurse hoped that the boy would fall asleep soon though and wake up in a better mood after a good nights sleep. The nurse left quietly and then hurried down the hall to help Banner out with a patient.

Once Rogers had left the room, Peter turned back round onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t even bother trying to blink back the tears that were now forming and falling from his eyes, as it was now such a frequent occurrence that he simply didn’t care any more. He looked over at Spidey, who seemed to be watching him with his beady black eyes, and sniffed hopelessly. After a few minutes he closed his eyes once more and fell asleep, and remained asleep for the rest of the night.


	92. 92

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four months later, but at the prison. (Month 6 of 18)

To say Tony felt awful was an understatement.

He felt filthy, disgusting, monsterous, selfish, heartless. Or that’s at least what his fellow inmates had convinced him to think of himself after spending just one third of his 18 month sentence in prison. It was a short sentence, compared to most, but the inmates and staff gave him a rough time for messing with a young and vulnerable thing. The former doctor did not even bothering arguing back that he was actually helping his ‘victim’ and just tried to ignore it all till his time was up. But, God, did it pass slowly when one was all alone inside four piss-stinking concrete walls 24/7.

Tony hadn’t got any visitors, which he didn’t expect anyway, so he was very surprised to hear one of the guards shout out that he had a visitor. Tony debated on his way to the visitor room who could possibily have come to see him and for a moment his heart leapt with joy at the idea of seeing Peter. But, instead he saw Stephen fucking Strange.

“I don’t want to see him.” Tony said to the guard currently in charge of his cuffed hands, turning his back to his old coworker sat at one of the steel benches.

Stephen couldn’t help the huffed laughter through his nose at Tony’s reaction to him. He wasn’t going to pretend that he thought Tony would be jumping for joy to see him, but he couldn’t deny that the immediate disgust on the man’s face made his heart sink a little.

“Always so stubborn, Stark.” He said airily, picking one of his legs up to cross it over the other as he watched his former coworker carefully. “Not even going to give me a chance?”

Tony considered for a few moments. His brain was telling him to get the hell out of there and as far away from Stephen as possible. After all, Stephen was the one to blame for his imprisonment. But, then again, Tony’s heart ached at the carefree smile on the man’s face, that hint of a smirk on his lips. On top of it all, this was the kindest interaction that Tony had had with another human being in months. Tony gave a little nod to the guard and thus was lead over to the bench, then cuffed to it.

“Don’t give him anything and just yell if he causes trouble.” The buff female guard said sharply to Stephen before heading out, leaving the two men to talk in private. Stephen nodded.

“You got it.” He called out after the guard, before turning back to Tony. He looked… he looked like a mess, if Stephen was quite honest. He looked like he had been dragged through Hell and back, and having a vague idea on what prisons were like, Stephen supposed that that was exactly what had happened. “How have you been, Tony?” He asked first, preparing himself for the shitstorm that could happen any second.

Tony scoffed at the question before bursting into laughter. It echoed off the concrete walls, giving it a sinister undertone.

“You... you really wanna know? Just look at me, you asshole!” Tony snapped. “I’ve been shit, that’s what I’ve been.” He said briefly before staring at Stephen, trying to make him feel as guilty as possible for what he did. Even despite the litany of abuse being thrown at him, Stephen maintained a fond yet melancholic smile on his face.

“I’m sorry, Tony, I really am. You know I had to tell Pepper though, God only knows what would have happened otherwise.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest as piercing blue eyes met sunken yet furious brown ones. Tony scoffed at Stephen’s apology, shaking his head softly before looking back up at the man.

”What? What would have happened? Peter and I could have been happy?” Tony shot back at Stephen. “You should have just kept your mouth shut.” He added, his voice dripping with venom fueled by the betrayal that he felt by what Stephen had done to him and Peter.

“Come on, Stark, you’re seriously telling me that you would’ve been able to keep it a secret? From _Pepper_? How you managed to keep it to yourself for that long anyway I’ll never know, you were always the professional out of the two of us.” Stephen said back. He could almost feel the tips of the daggers that Tony was glaring at him, but he didn’t let it get to him.

“Well, yes, actually.” Tony lied. ”We wouldn’t live together, just- meet up now and then and...” He trailed off as he thought of all the things he had done with Peter, the food fight, the video games, the sex... “We were happy...” Tony said quietly, his voice much softer now as he sagged in his seat like he was weighed down by his love for Peter. Stephen sighed. He couldn’t help feeling an odd twinge looking at Tony, who’s eyes were downcast and sombre.

“I heard that from him too. He made that known while he was trying to claw my eyes out.” He said, looking away from Tony and up at the security camera in the corner of the room. When he looked back, Tony was watching him.

”He did what?” Tony asked, a smile tugging at his lips at the idea of Peter beating up Stephen. The bastard absolutely deserved it. ”When did you last see him? Is he okay?” Tony asked further, trying to sit closer to Stephen to get the information out of him sooner, but the cuffs stopped him from moving much.

“I was covering for Banner one day, and he attacked me in the corridor. It took both Rogers and Odinson to pin him to a wall before he could calm down.” Stephen said haughtily, crossing his arms tighter. That bruise on his arm had taken a couple of days to heal – even though the boy was small, he clearly could hit hard when he wanted to. “Tony, I don’t think I should…” He trailed off, pursing his lips. Telling Tony about Peter’s wellbeing could make the man feel worse.

”You deserved it.” Tony laughed, grinning at knowing that his boy was such a fighter. But, then he thought about why Stephen had mentioned Steve and Thor, because that would mean... ”He’s still at Rosewood?!” Tony yelped a little when he realised.

“No, no. That incident happened months ago, it happened before your trial had even taken place. He had to be readmitted, but he was discharged about two months ago. We haven’t heard from him since, but Rhodey said he was planning to retake his senior year.” Stephen said, his heart aching at how Tony had smiled at the mention of Peter but then seemed so scared that the boy might still be at the facility.

“Jesus...” Tony groaned, knowing that Peter must have been in a terrible state to be admitted again. “Did he graduate? What’s he doing now?” Tony asked urgently, his cuffs biting into his wrists which would surely leave marks. Stephen sighed.

“I told you, Tony, we haven’t heard from him since he left the facility. I only know vague information that Rhodey’s told me, I personally haven’t seen him since the trial.” He said, watching as Tony’s face fell. “Rhodey said he was fine, but more... well, he only ever spoke to Rogers willingly. He didn’t connect with Rhodey at all.”

“Course he wouldn’t.” Tony chuckled, leaning back in his seat so that his head was resting against the concrete wall. He was so exhausted from constantly being on edge with all his fellow inmates. But, talking with Stephen felt like a break for him, despite how much his heart ached at talking about Peter. “I bet it’s the not talking till the patient talks thing that Rhodey does. Peter needs a lot of pushing and poking so that he’ll talk.” Tony recalled fondly, smiling softly as he thought of the yellow spots in Peter’s eyes and his blush whenever he called him ‘baby boy’. Stephen knew that he was probably making things worse by indulging Tony in talking about Peter, but he knew that this was probably the only bit of relief that Tony would get for a while.

“Yes, Rhodey said that Peter would leave sessions early quite frequently because of it.” He said, watching Tony’s face light up, no doubt running memories of Peter through his mind. “He was referred to a specialist doctor when he was discharged.”

“That’s my good boy.” Tony muttered under his breath with a smile. ”Who was he referred to? Has he been going regularly? Or did he pull of the same trick that he did to you?” Tony grinned, hinting at how Peter had refused to show up to Stephen’s session. Stephen rolled his eyes at that, unimpressed.

“How many times, Stark, we _don’t know_. Rhodey said that her name was Maximoff, but I don’t know who she is. We haven’t gotten any calls from her, or his aunt, since he left so we can only assume he’s going to his sessions.” Stephen said. “I’ve already told you far too much, you’re lucky we’re even talking about this.”

“I’m lucky?” Tony scoffed. ”I deserve to know! I care for Peter more than all of you combined! And that’s professionally and in general, mind you. And don’t you start arguing, because the evidence is in the fact that Peter was getting better while I was caring for him.” Tony dared to claim, even though he had no idea how Strange and Rhodey had treated him after getting taken away by the police. All he had to go on was the way Peter looked in that courtroom when he was witnessing, and it wasn’t good at all. Stephen opened his mouth to argue, but closed it with a huff when Tony continued talking.

“Even after all this time, I don’t know you keep your balance with that inflated head of yours.” The doctor snapped. “You haven’t changed a bit, Tony, always wanting to claim that you’re the best man for the job.” He snorted, leaning back in his chair as hazy memories from med school began to filter into his mind’s eye.

“Because I am.” Tony said throught gritted teeth, turning his gaze to the floor. ”And you could never bend the rules once, even if it would benefit a patient greatly. Always so stuck up on rules.” He said back with the same angry tone that Stephen was giving him.

“Because we’re _professionals_ , Tony. The rules are there for a reason. Besides, we did enough bending of the rules in medical school, it was time to grow up.” Stephen said, watching the other man carefully as he stared angrily at the floor. Tony did not respond to Stephen immediately, but rather let himself disappear into a daydream that was partly a memory. After being quiet for a few moments, Tony opened his eyes, not even realising till then that he had even closed them.

“I still can’t believe you told on me to Professor Raine during the second autumn semester.”

Stephen snorted at that, a small and familiar smirk finally gracing his features once more.

“Did you honestly think he wasn’t going to notice that 85% of your answers copied the mark scheme word for word? Besides, I didn’t hear you complaining in the bathroom afterwards...” He trailed off, looking down at his nails in feigned disinterest while his head was filled with images of Tony angrily shoving him into a bathroom stall, only for the two of them to engage in the messiest hate sex that Stephen had ever experienced.

Tony snorted too when Stephen mentioned the activities that followed the scolding and warning that Tony had received in Raine’s office. He chuckled, then sighed softly.

“That’s still the best sex I’ve ever had.” Tony admitted quietly, blushing a bit at the memories flooding his brain.

“Of course it was, it was with me.” Stephen said, looking up and catching the blush on Tony’s cheeks. It stirred something inside of him, made him realise how much they meant to each other, but Stephen was quick to shake that thought out of his head. Tony was in here for a reason, and even despite their history Stephen couldn’t forgive him for that just yet. “You always acted like such a brat before then... well, after then as well, but you mellowed out after that.”

Yeah, because I became a Daddy, Tony thought, but then thought better of actually saying it aloud. He usually would, considering knowing Stephen for so long, but then he remembered they were being watched.

“And you got even more stuck up on rules. You’d never break them, not bend them and you wouldn’t let others either. And if they still did, you’d tell on them as soon as you knew.” He said, pausing for a bit before continuing. ”You wouldn’t even bend the rules to keep Clea safe and then look what happened.” Tony said, knowing he was ruining a perfect nice moment with the only person who would come to visit him in prison. He didn’t know why he brought up Stephen’s old patient who died by the hands of her abusive uncle, even though he knew Stephen was still very much weighed down by the incident. The smirk on Stephen’s face promptly dropped at the mention of his old patient, and the expression that replaced it was darkened and ice-cold.

“Don’t you dare mention Clea like that.” He snarled, his fists clenching and unclenching across his chest. “I did the best I could with what I was given, which wasn’t fucking much.” He said, but then paused and took a deep breath to try and regain composure. “I know you’re upset, Tony, but you have no right to bring things up like that. If that’s all you’re going to do, I don’t see a point in visiting you again.”

“As if I want to see you again.” Tony spat back, but it was a complete lie and he regretted deeply that he brought up Clea the way he did. He didn’t even understand what he wanted himself, whether he wanted Stephen to stay forever or to never see him again. Perhaps he was losing his mind and would be a patient at Rosewood himself soon. Stephen sighed softly.

“You’ve never been a good liar, Tony. If you really don’t want me to visit again, though, then I suppose this is it.” He said, unfolding his arms and uncrossing his legs like he was moving to stand up from his chair.

”And you’ve never been a good psychiatrist.” Tony continued to shoot back at his old friend. He had gone this far with the lies and verbal abuse, so he could hardly back down now. ”And if Peter’s referred to you again, please decline and send him to anyone else. He’s better off without your help.” Tony said finally before turning away from Stephen, showing him that he was done talking too.

Tony turning away from him hit Stephen right where it hurt, but he didn’t say anything to express that. Instead, he simply got up from his seat and headed to the door, taking one last glance back at his former coworker and best friend. He could see the hurt on Tony’s face and the pain in his eyes, but he reminded himself that this is what he deserved for doing what he did.

“Goodbye, Tony.” He muttered, loud enough for the man to hear, before leaving and following the nearby guard back to the reception area of the prison.

Tony hardly had time to deal with the heartbreak at Stephen saying those two words, again, before the same female guard came to get him back to the main inmate areas. With a quiet sniffle and thick swallow, Tony straightened himself and raised his head high, despite his inner turmoil and he got ready to face the shitstorm that was prison. He would survive this, he would have to. Because then, maybe, maybe, he could see Peter again.


	93. 93

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine months later. (Month 15 of 18)

Peter couldn’t deny that he was nervous. His leg bounced restlessly against the floor as he sat at the small, round table by the local coffee shop window, and his fingers drummed against the tabletop as he glanced out of the window every so often. He was meeting a guy, Quentin, for the first time outside of their group therapy sessions. Peter’s doctor, Wanda, had suggested that he go to the group sessions run by her twin brother Pietro in the hopes of meeting new people, and Peter had managed to get along with one of the other patients enough to suggest getting together outside of the sessions. That was helped by the fact that Quentin was, if he was honest, quite attractive. He wasn’t waiting long before he spotted the man come through the shop door, and stood up nervously to greet him.

”Peter.” Beck greeted with a grin as he came up to Peter. ”It’s so great to see you. Have you waited long? I hope I didn’t make you wait.” The man blurted out nervously, glancing at his watch before looking at the boy.

“No, no, I wasn’t waiting. I only got here a few minutes ago, you’re okay.” Peter smiled gently. He relaxed at hearing how nervous Beck was, it assured him that he wasn’t the only one who was anxious right now. “I, uhm, didn’t order anything yet though, I thought I’d wait ‘til you got here.” He said.

”That’s good.” Beck smiled and for a moment he forgot to speak and just looked at Peter. ”I wanted to treat you, so what would you like?” He offered with a smile, gesturing to the chalkboard above the counter where all the drinks were listed. Peter’s eyes followed the man’s gesture up to the chalkboard, and his eyes widened slightly at the wide range of choices.

“I-I don’t mind paying for my own drink, you don’t need to-“ He started to say, but a quick look over from Beck had him shutting up about that. “Uhm… I don’t really know much about coffee, just… maybe find the one with the most sugar in it, and I’ll be happy with that.” He laughed, looking over at Beck to gauge his reaction.

”Right, right.” Beck wanted to say something cheesy about the sugary drink matching how sweet Peter was, but he shut his mouth instead. ”You wanna go find us some seats while I order?” He suggested.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah!” Peter was momentarily distracted by the options on the chalkboard again, but Beck’s voice pulled him back to the present. While he went to join the short queue by the desk, Peter went to the same table by the window again. This wasn’t so bad. Peter hadn’t tripped up yet, or spilled anything, or accidentally insulted Beck. He was doing well, all things considered. He let his mind wander as he gazed out of the window for a while, but then Beck’s reappearance in front of him made him zone back in.

”She said something about caramel, whipped cream and sprinkles. Is that sugary enough for you?” Beck joked as he sat Peter’s drink in front of him, then slipped into the seat opposite Peter with his own black coffee.

“Were you sure she was talking about coffee, and not a cake?” Peter giggled, sliding the drink towards himself and taking a tentative sip. The blend of sugar and coffee, along with a hint with caramel made him make an appreciative noise, and he took a proper drink from the cup before setting it down. “What’d you get?” He asked, leaning forward to peer into the man’s cup. The unmistakeable smell of pure black coffee hit him, and suddenly he was back in Tony Stark’s kitchen one early morning with his Star Wars pyjamas and memories of dark, shining eyes. He froze for a moment, but soon shook his head and sat back in his chair like nothing had happened.

Beck chuckled and watched closely as Peter tried his drink, smiling softly when the boy seemed to approve his choice. But, then when Peter’s face turned into a frown, so did Beck’s.

”What’s the matter? Is something triggering you?” He asked quietly. They had talked a lot about triggers at the group sessions.

“No, no, I’m- I’m fine. It’s just, uh, the smell of black coffee can be quite… quite overwhelming sometimes.” Peter laughed nervously, blinking a few times as he settled back in his seat. “Like I said, I’m not really a coffee drinker. I dunno how you can have that stuff without milk or anything.” He said, trying to deflect as best he could. The damage was done, however. Memories he had been trying to repress for the last year or so were dangerously close to the surface again, but all Peter could do was drink his syrupy concoction and hope that they passed. “Too bitter for me.”

”I see.” Beck said with a smile, relaxing back in his seat, but still pulled his cup of black coffee closer to himself so that Peter didn’t have to smell it. ”I don’t know, I just can’t handle too much sugar. I prefer sour and bitter things more.” He shrugged. ”So, besides sugar, what else do you like?” Beck smiled as he asked the classic first date question.

“Uhm…” Shit, what _did_  Peter like? Every hobby Peter could remember suddenly vanished from his mind when Beck asked him that question, and for a moment he was left opening and closing his mouth like an asphyxiated fish. “I- I like video games.” Great one, Parker. “God, I probably sound like a child saying that. I like… oh, I like birdwatching, but I don’t really get to do much of that in Queens.” He said, taking another sip from his drink.

”Right, right.” Beck nodded. ”So where do you go birdwatching?” He asked, sipping on his drink as he listened to Peter’s answer. Peter shrugged.

“Sometimes I try ‘n go to local parks for walks, sit on the benches there for a while to see if I can see anything interesting. I don’t really have many options since I can’t drive, you know? Kinda sucks, but...” He stirred his drink with the little spoon as he spoke, his eyes following the swirling cream as it dissolved into the drink. “What about you? What do you get up to?”

”I uhm... Not much and it’s been like that for a while now with my disorder acting up and stuff. I have a degree in IT, so there’s lots of job opportunities, I just... can’t work right now though.” Beck admitted, which he had already done at the group sessions to the dozen others also attending them. ”So yeah, kinda sucks.” He added with a chuckle. ”But, I can still drive though. Maybe I could take you to the woods sometime? To check out some birds?”

“Right, right...” Peter nodded, recalling how Beck had admitted that his bipolar disorder got in the way of a lot of his day to day activities, even if it was classed as the “functional” type of BPD. “I get that, it uh, took me ages to graduate high school cos of how often I was in and out of hospital.” He mumbled. At the mention of going birdwatching with Beck, he looked up hopefully. “You would do that? It’s not very exciting, I mean... it’s a lot of sitting around. I, uhm, I like the sound of it though. Going with you. That- yeah.” He stammered, blushing as he fumbled his words and eventually took another sip of his drink to save himself from talking.

Beck smiled when Peter mentioned how he also struggled to keep up with societies standards of a functional adult. It gave Beck a lot of comfort and he felt himself falling just a bit more in love with Peter.

”That’s fine. I like quiet time and just, sitting around. Well, at least when I’m not having one of my episodes.” He added in a mumble, meaning both his hypomanic and depressive episodes. “How about on Friday? The weather’s supposed to be real nice.”

“Yeah, Friday sounds good! I haven’t been properly birdwatching in ages, it’ll be nice.” Peter nodded, smiling at the idea of it. “And yeah, it’ll be real quiet. Don’t wanna spook the birds, you know?” He said, using his spoon to gather up the last few dregs of his drink before tipping his head back and finishing it. “That was so good, the lady wasn’t kidding when she said she added sprinkles.” He giggled, putting the cup back down on the little plate and looking to see that Beck was still drinking his coffee. He leaned to one side and saw that the counter also had a variety of cakes, and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “If I got some cake, would you eat some? I still can’t believe you refuse to have sugar.” He joked.

Beck felt his heart melt at the sight of Peter trying to get every last drop of his drink. It was truly endearing and instead of feeling old in the face of such childish behaviour, Beck felt younger and more fresh. Perhaps Peter was exactly what he needed to get back on track with his life...

”I mean, I might steal a bite.” Beck admitted with a shrug.

“Aha! Knew it. Okay, cool, cos I’ve just seen some chocolate gateau slice that has our names written on it. Gimme two seconds, okay?” Peter chirped, before getting up out of his seat and heading to the counter. It didn’t take long to wait in the queue and pick out the cake that he wanted to the waitress behind the counter, and soon he was walking back to their table with a large slice of chocolate cake and two forks. “I love chocolate cake, but I never really eat it.” He pouted, sliding back into his seat and placing the plate right in the middle of the table.

”That’s one big slice.” Beck pointed out a little dumbly, chuckling as he took the second fork with a ‘thanks’. He let Peter take a bite first, laughing at the look of pure bliss on his face before getting a bite himself. “That’s- really sugary.” Beck mumbled, covering his mouth with his hand as he chewed.

“Yeah! It’s perfect.” Peter laughed, before pushing his fork into the cake and and taking a bite. He moaned around it, his eyes widening and then closing entirely as he chewed. “‘s so good!” He said around his mouthful, also covering his mouth until he had swallowed. “You need to expand your... what’s it called? Palate. Gotta eat more sweet stuff.” He said, already pushing the fork back into the cake for a second bite.

”I guess I should have a taste of you then.” Beck said, finally letting some of his more explicit thoughts out into the world. He waited anxiously for Peter’s reaction.

A taste of him…

Peter’s thoughts were suddenly hijacked by memories of his old doctor, of the Big Bad Wolf tickling him relentlessly into the couch as he squealed and squirmed, of Tony promising to eat him up in a low, dangerous voice and snapping his jaws playfully until Peter whined at him to stop. It was like whiplash, the way his mind was pulled into those memories and then suddenly pushed back into the present, to see Beck watching him expectantly. “Wh- I- You-!” He stammered, blinking a few times as he became increasingly flustered. He settled for giggling lightly and shoving another bite of cake into his mouth, hoping Beck wouldn’t pick up on his second freezing.

Even if Peter giggled and shoved at him playfully, Beck was convinced he had made a mistake. He chuckled back nervously before also taking another piece of cake, giving himself an excuse to not have to talk. He swallowed thickly while an awkward silence fell upon their little table. Now that there was a silence, albeit awkward, it gave Peter a chance to actually look at Beck properly. He was attractive, no denying that, but there was something oddly familiar about him. He had ocean blue eyes and a nicely sculpted beard, and Peter found himself looking at Beck’s beard for longer than would be considered normal. When he realised that the man was also staring at him, he coughed awkwardly and turned his attention away from Beck’s facial hair.

“If you… If you had one million dollars, right now, what would you do with it?” He asked, twirling his fork between his fingers.

”Oh! Uhm...” Beck hummed, glad to have a distraction before he began to say more inappropriate things. ”I think I’d start my own IT business. Like, be CEO and everything and be the boss of everyone else.” The man explained, gazing out the window and smiled softly at the idea of finally showing everyone what he was truly capable of.

“Huh… that’s cool. I dunno if I could ever do that. Being in charge of so many people sounds scary…” Peter mumbled, watching Beck’s face. The man had a soft expression on his face, and it made Peter’s heart do an odd skip. “I’d probably go travelling. I’ve never been outside of Queens, it would be cool to go places. I’ve always wanted to go to Europe.”

”Oh, yeah, American’s got to see Europe at least once in their life.” Beck chuckled. ”When I’m CEO, I’ll travel all over the world I bet.” He added, although he could hardly do such a challenging job with his BPD2 diagnosis. Beck was driven, Peter had to give him that.

“When you become rich and famous from your CEO job, maybe you can fly me places in your private jet.” Peter joked, taking another bite of the chocolate cake. He moaned around it once more, mumbling a ‘this is so good!’ under his breath before setting his fork down briefly.

”Sure.” Beck laughed. ”I’d show you all of Europe. Perhaps they have some cool birds there.” He added, liking the talk about his dream, because it made it feel more possible than impossible. But, then another customer next to them laughed loudly in response to what their friend was saying and Beck’s face fell as reality hit him. ”It’s never gonna happen though.” Beck said glumly.

“Hey…” Peter leaned forward to place his hand on top of Beck’s. “You don’t know that. Anything could happen. You’ve been doing really well in the group sessions, you said you haven’t really been having many episodes lately. Maybe you’ll get there!” He smiled, wiggling their hands around to get the man to smile again.

”It’s a cycle, Peter.” Beck chuckled sadly. ”The depressive periods are inevitable and I just- I can’t function.” The man admitted with a shrug. ”You think you could be a CEO with your attachment stuff? I mean, how can you form proper relationships with that?” Beck ranted all of a sudden, not even realising that what he had said was very hurtful. At Beck’s words, Peter slowly withdrew his hand and placed it in his lap.

“I- I dunno. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna be CEO anyway…” He mumbled, staring down at the last bit of chocolate cake on his plate which he suddenly didn’t have an appetite for. “I- It- I try my best, though, I try- try not to let it affect me too much.” He said, but already he felt like he was fighting a losing battle with his own thoughts, and it wasn’t helpful that Beck was adding onto it unwittingly.

”The Maximoff’s tell us constantly to be realistic, to be honest about our diagnosis and struggles.” Beck added, his tone still a bit too sharp for a friendly conversation. ”Because it’s gonna affect you, it affects everything.”

“I guess…” Peter finally said resignedly, frowning a little bit. He hadn’t realised until now how pessimistic Beck was about things, though he supposed that they weren’t really given much room to be negative in the group sessions which were themed around recovery. “I still wanna try though.” He said, looking back up at Beck. “If we try together, maybe we could get that private jet.”

Beck then realised that he really was on a date with a child. The optimism seemed forced from Peter and so did his smile, so Beck wasn’t buying it.

”Yeah, we could always try.” The man said before reaching for his cup of coffee and drinking the last of it, although it was cold and more bitter than earlier. Peter didn’t know whether Beck believed it or not, but he decided not to push it any further. He pushed the small plate of cake away from him with the tips of his fingers, finished with it, before sitting back in his chair and watching Beck.

“Can I- uhm… Can I ask you something? What did you… first think of me when we started going to those sessions? I’m always curious to hear what people think, you know?” He asked.  
The pause in the conversation gave Beck some time to breathe and gather himself. He was more than aware of his sudden rants he could throw at people, which often caused relationships to go sour very quickly. But, even if he was aware of it, he didn’t really take responsibility for it, but rather blamed it on his diagnosis. At the question, Beck raised his gaze and thought for a moment.

”That you’re young, very young.” He started simply. ”Is Rosewood a hospital for teenagers or…?” He asked, remembering that Peter had mentioned the facility’s name a few times during their group therapy sessions.

“No, it’s- it’s a hospital for adults. I was just one of the younger patients there. I think there were… maybe five people there who were my age? The rest were all in their thirties ‘n stuff.” Peter said, drumming his fingertips against the table. “I think I might’ve been the youngest, actually.” He said, trying to remember how old Loki and Harley were and comparing their ages.  
Beck hummed thoughtfully at that.

”Did you feel left out or…? I remember you’ve talked about one guy in particular- what’s his name...” Beck groaned out as he tried to recall, snapping his fingers as he did so.

“I mean, it was a little isolating, yeah. I didn’t really talk to the people who were older than me. I only really had two friends there, and one of them I fell out with pretty hard. My closest friend there was probably Loki, we had therapy together sometimes.” Peter explained, twirling his fork between his fingers. “After a while I mostly kept to myself, though.”

“Yeah, that’s often best. To just mind your own business. We can’t get too attached, you know?” Beck chuckled, trying to cheer up the conversation which he had ruined in the first place. Peter hummed in response as he brought his bottom lip between his teeth. For a moment he was lost in thought, caught up in his own head about the differences between himself and Beck. It was almost like they were chalk and cheese, complete opposites of a non-existent spectrum.

“Can’t get too attached. That’s what got me into that hospital in the first place.” He said, trying to make a nervous joke out of the situation. “Did you think anything else, or did you mainly just see that I’m quite young?”

Oh, this was his chance to redeem himself, Beck thought and smirked.

“Well, that and that you’re gorgeous, obviously.” He purred, his eyes soft as he leaned forwards a bit across the table. Peter blinked a couple of times, and couldn’t stop the coy smile that was spreading across his face.

“Y-You really think so?” He said timidly, his face starting to heat up with a blush that was made worse by the gentle gaze that Beck was giving him. “That’s- that’s really sweet, I’m- Sorry, I’m really bad at taking compliments!” He squeaked, the smile on his face getting wider and wider by the second.

“That’s all right.” Beck chuckled, pleased that Peter seemed to have cheered up. Perhaps the date wasn’t completely ruined. ”You look so cute when you’re all flustered anyway.” He added with the same purring tone.

“Stop, you’re making it worse!” Peter giggled, hiding his face in his hands so that Beck couldn’t see how bright red his face was turning. He peeked at the man through his fingers and saw that he was watching him with a pleased grin, one that really made Beck look attractive and it made Peter’s skin prickle. “You’re doing it on purpose, I swear.” He said, finally taking his hands away from his face though his smile remained there. Beck shrugged with a grin, barely taking responsibility for making Peter so flustered and embarrassed and continued to tease him.

”I didn’t do anything.” He laughed, lifting his hands up to show that he was innocent. Peter scrunched his nose up and glared playfully at the man, even daring to lightly kick him under the table. That glare melted away into a genuine smile after a few seconds, and the boy found himself gazing at Beck’s blue eyes again. The blush hadn’t quite faded yet, but Peter wasn’t as embarrassed any more.

“I thought you were handsome as well.” He admitted quietly, looking away from the man but glancing back occasionally. Beck yelped playfully when he felt Peter kick him and just continued laughing. When Peter returned the compliment, Beck felt himself blush a little too.

”So, you were just staring at me while Pietro or the others were talking?” He teased with a grin.

“Wh- No, I didn’t say _that_ …” Peter flushed again, hoping that Beck was only joking and that he didn’t actually notice that Peter usually spent more attention on Beck than the actual sessions themselves. “I bet you _wish_  that’s what I was doing.” He said smartly, grinning once more.

”Oh!” Beck winced at Peter’s clever comeback and sat back in his seat in defeat. ”Seriously though, do you think the Maximoff’s are good or? You’ve had some other therapists at Rosewood, right?” Peter shrugged.

"I've had a few, yeah. It's kinda hard to compare them cos they were all so different? I had a couple before I was admitted to Rosewood, and then a couple _in_  Rosewood, and one in-between admittances. They were all so different, it's hard to say which were better or worse.

"The Maximoffs are okay, I guess." Beck explained, shrugging his shoulders. "I think I prefer Wanda though. What about you, what do you think of them?" Peter nodded.

“Yeah, she’s nice. I’ve actually had her the longest out of any therapist I’ve seen. They’ve never lasted more than a few months.” He hummed, leaning foward to rest his elbow on the table and cradle his chin in his upturned hand. “Like you said, I’ve tried not to get too attached.” He mumbled.

”That’s good, that’s good.” Beck mused with a smile before he thought of something. ”So, when should we meet up on Friday?” He asked.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, Friday!” Peter nodded. The two of them then began to discuss a plan for meeting up again, and Peter couldn’t help feel excited about seeing Beck again despite his slightly more pessimistic outlook on life. By the end of the date they had settled on a time, and Peter even dared to kiss the man on the cheek before they went their separate ways.


	94. 94

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months later. (Month 18 of 18)

Stephen pulled into the parking lot of the detention centre and sighed. A small part of him wondered what he was doing here, especially since he hadn’t seen his former co-worker in over a year. However, it was for precisely that reason that he even showed up in the first place. As much as he hated to admit it, he had to make sure Tony was alright. After a few moments he got out of the car and headed into the reception area of the detention centre, where he had agreed with the prison staff he would wait for Tony to bring him home.

“You got yourself a ride, Stark.” The female guard said once Tony had changed into his own clothing and got back his personal belongings.

”A what?” Tony asked dumbly. He felt like he was daydreaming the whole getting out of prison thing.

”Your man’s here to pick you up. You’re a lucky one.” The guard added with a laugh before buzzing the door open and Tony stepped through to freedom. However, he almost wanted to do a 180 turn back into the prison when he saw Stephen.

When Tony appeared, Stephen immediately stood up from the chair he was sat in. His eyes were instantly drawn to how the man’s clothes seemed to hang a lot looser on his frame, and how his hair seemed to be a gradient of black to grey, as opposed to just a few pepperings of grey hair from the last time that Stephen saw him. He caught onto Tony’s unsavoury expression and couldn’t resist laughing.

“It’s nice to see you too, Stark.”

”You’re my ride?” Tony asked in disbelief, then snickered a bit as he was quite gleeful about finally being free. He was slightly afraid that it all was a dream though and he would end up in his cell again when he woke up. ”Well, then I get to pick the music.” Tony said and with that he started heading outside, drawing in a long and deep breath and tipped his head back to let the sunshine hit his face. Stephen rolled his eyes fondly. Even despite everything Tony had done, Stephen couldn’t find it in him to hate the man.

“Alright, fine. It better not be that Led Zeppelin stuff you always used to blast during our study sessions, though.” He said, following the man out of the building. He nudged him on the shoulder to direct him to the car, but otherwise let the man be with his thoughts for a while. Once they were inside the car, he took a moment to watch Tony carefully. “You okay?”

Tony chuckled in response and went to follow Stephen to the car.

”Starving. I need a cheeseburger. Or three actually. You got cash?” Tony asked hurriedly after settling back in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, yeah, I do. Check the glove compartment, I might have some in there, but if not then I’ve got my wallet.” Stephen said, briefly checking behind him before pulling out of the parking space and driving out of the car park, away from the prison. He wasn’t expecting there to be a detour to McDonalds, but he decided that it was the least he could do for somebody who had been in prison for the last 18 months.

With a wide grin, Tony counted out 20 dollars in the glove compartment. He sat even further back in the seat, squinting his eyes at the sun shining in his face. The two men sat in silence most of the ride till Stephen found a McDonalds and before the car had even stopped moving, Tony jumped out and got as much food as he could with the money he had. A few moments later, Tony and Stephen were leaning against the front of the car while Tony worked his way through his second cheeseburger, moaning loudly around every single bite. Stephen watched amused as Tony ate, his arms crossed and his legs stretched out in front of him.

“Can you eat that any louder?” He asked sarcastically, a fond smirk still spread across his face. He hadn’t bought anything, he hated junk food, but Tony was acting like it was the elixir of life. “I’m guessing the food back _there_  wasn’t Michelin star.”

Tony smacked his lips loudly after finishing his second burger and then sucked his fingers clean just as loudly. He snickered at the look on Stephen’s face before grabbing his Coke and taking a long drink.

“We had a lucky day if the food had any taste at all.” Tony said briefly before shoving a third burger into his mouth.

“Mm.” Stephen hummed non-commitally, looking out at the parking lot and past the neon McDonalds sign stood high in the air. “What do you think you’ll do first when you get home?” He asked, turning to watch Tony cram the last of the third burger into his mouth.

Tony took the opportunity to think while he chewed. First, he would shower and just wash all the filth and misery from his body and mind. Then, he would sleep. In his _own_  bed. But then, what would be do in the morning? Tony still didn’t know when he swallowed the last of his burger and licked his lips before sighing heavily, flopping back on the front of the car. After a few moments of studying the sky which the setting sun had painted a pale blue and purple, Tony spoke.

“I want to see Peter.” He admitted. Stephen watched the man flop back, but at the mention of the boy’s name, he sighed.

“Tony, you know you can’t. That’s probably the worst thing you can do right now.” He said, though he had a sinking feeling that Tony wasn’t listening to him at all. “You need to move on.”

Ignoring Stephen’s reasonable advice, Tony continued to look up at the sky.

”Does he still live in the same apartment building?”

“I don’t know.” Stephen replied. “Tony, you can’t do this. He- He hasn’t seen you in a year and a half. He’s recovered now, he’s probably moved on. You should too. There’s no point reopening old wounds.”

Moved on. Tony nearly felt his cheeseburgers come back up at that.

”He hasn’t moved on.” Tony stated a little bitterly, although he had no way of knowing if Peter had or hadn’t.

“You never know, Stark.” Stephen replied simply, also looking up at the sky for a moment. The two of them sat in silence for a little longer, before Stephen moved to stand up from the front of his car. “Come on. It’s getting late, you need to get home.” He said, moving to get into the driver’s seat.

Grabbing all his trash and dumping it in the trash can, Tony took another deep breath before sighing. It was like the air was fresher out here. He then made his way back to the car and into the passenger seat and dozed off before he could even remember to put on AC/DC.


	95. 95

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter calls Ned, and someone might be watching him.

Peter groaned, tossing his keys onto his bed and his phone onto his desk. Since taking a job at Mr. Delmar's grocery store and getting extra hours to help May pay the bills, he barely had time to himself any more. He took off his shoes and tossed them under his bed, before collapsing into his desk chair for a moment. He turned on the nearby lamp and squinted for a moment as it filled his room with light. He glanced over at the window and saw it still had the blinds up, but decided not to pull them down. He had the window open, and he could do with the breeze.  
The breeze coming through his window caused a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye, and he barely had time to think before he was catching a piece of paper that was poorly stuck to his cork board above his desk. 

He looked down, and a sudden stab of emotion went through him as he realised it was the leopard drawing that Tony had done for him two years ago. It had since faded slightly, due to exposure of the sun through his window, but he could still see the careful sketch lines and Peter’s regressed attempts at colouring it in. Peter stared at it for what seemed to be an eternity, but then a sudden ringing from his phone brought him out of his stupor. He grabbed his phone from the desk and stood up, kicking his desk chair back so that he had room to walk. 

“Hey, Ned.” 

This was a routine for them: every Friday evening at 8, they would call each other and say how their week went. Both of them were huge nerds and social hermits, so it wasn’t like they were doing anything else on a Friday night. Ned was also attending university two states over, so this was the best way to keep in contact other than when he came home for the holidays. 

“Hey, dude! How’s it going?” 

“Not bad, I actually just got in from a shift at Delmar’s, like, thirty seconds ago. You timed it well, you spying on me or somethin’?” He joked, pacing around his room as Ned’s chatter filled his left ear.

“No way, dude, I’ve just got that crazy good timing.” Ned laughed. “So what’ve you been up to apart from Delmar’s?” He asked, and Peter took a second to think about it. 

“Not much. I, uhm- Quentin didn’t show up to our forest trip again. He left me a voicemail to apologise but it- he didn’t really /apologise/, he just blamed his BPD.” He mumbled, pacing backwards and forwards in his room.

“Shit, man!” Ned groaned out, shaking his head. ”Peter, this is the third time, you gotta dump him. But, what did he say?” Peter pulled a face, though he knew Ned wouldn’t be able to see it. 

“I know it is, but I- I can’t exactly get mad at him for it! He said that he’s in a depressive episode, and he /sounded/ bad on the phone so I said it was okay and that we could reschedule. He’s not /always/ like this, sometimes he’s really nice!”

”Sometimes, Peter, sometimes!” Ned repeated for emphasis. ”Also, didn’t he say he got a depressive episode the day before? So, from what I know about BPD, is that he knew way ahead of time that he wouldn’t be able to go out. So, he should have let you know earlier than just ten minutes before you’re supposed to meet up.”

Peter had trouble responding to that. His mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish for a moment, but he quickly regained himself. 

“Ned, he’s fine! I- I don’t wanna get mad at something that neither of us can control. We’ve been out recently, we went to that new Indian restaurant down on Main Street and then he invited me back to his apartment.” He said, already blushing at the memory of it.

“Hmm, okay.” Ned hummed, not entirely convinced. ”And how did that go?” He asked a little sharply.

“It went… It went okay.” Peter and Beck had had a nice meal, but the evening nearly fell apart when they went back to Beck’s apartment. They’d had a tender makeout session on the couch, but when Beck’s hand had travelled south, Peter had frozen with memories of Tony Stark doing the same thing. Beck could instantly sense that something was wrong, so they stopped. Although the older man had insisted it was fine, Peter couldn’t help still feeling guilty about it. 

“He’s a nice guy, honestly Ned.” He said, picking up random items of laundry off of the floor and heading over to his closet to chuck them inside.

”Come on, is that all you’re giving me? I need details!” Ned laughed out, then whined a little impatiently. Cradling the phone under his ear, Peter opened the closet to throw his clothes inside. 

“Wh- Alright, we went back to his and… we were, you know, making out ‘n stuff.” He said, but then paused when he peered further into the closet. He leaned inside and pulled out a black bundle of fluff from the back, and his stomach dropped as he realised it was Spidey. The stuffie had been long abandoned, ever since Peter lost his ability to comfortably regress without a proper caregiver with him and the stuffed animal reminded him too much of Tony. “He- He tried to go further, but it didn’t work. It was too much like…” 

Ned knew exactly what Peter was talking about and hummed sympathetically. 

”Yeah, man, I know.” He sighed softly, remembering how Peter had spent an entire afternoon explaining everything about his old psychiatrist, the stays at the facility, the times in between and the court case. It was a whole mess, but Ned stood by his friend without ever doubting him for a millisecond. Peter continued to stare down at the stuffie, and it was like the stuffie was staring right back at him, judging him for pushing Spidey to the back of the closet and refusing to acknowledge its existence. 

“I wanted to do stuff with him, I really did, but it was just- it hurt too much. Quentin even kinda /looks/ like him, with his beard. It was like I was looking at… /him/ again, I couldn’t do it.” He said, before finally throwing Spidey back into his closet and slamming it shut. “I just hope that feeling goes away soon.” Ned nodded as he listened to Peter, even though his friend couldn’t see it through the phone. 

“Have you told him about Tony and all? He might recognise your face from the news online and stuff.” He pointed out, referring to the decent amount of coverage that Tony’s court case got by the local news.

“Yeah, we… I told him the general story, but we don’t talk about it much. I don’t /like/ talking about it, and… I guess I don’t wanna seem like I’m stuck on something in the past when I’m with him. He might find it weird, I dunno.” Peter mumbled, turning away from his closet to continue pacing his room.

“Yeah, yeah, I get that.” Ned mused. ”But, you can talk about it with me, you know.” He offered, like he had done many times since Peter first told him the whole story.

“Thanks, Ned, but I’ll be fine. It was just a slip-up, it’s not as bad as it was.” Peter replied. He finally collapsed back into his desk chair and spun on it a couple of times, before wheeling himself over to his desk and opening up his old laptop. “Anyways, how’s college? Have you spoken to that girl in your robotics lab yet?” He asked, and relaxed as he let his best friend’s rambling soothe his nervous heart.

\---

Tony felt like a new man, but also a different one when he woke up long after midday after arriving home the night before. He felt rough, but fresh, and it was an odd feeling. After getting himself and his house sorted out a bit, he headed out to Peter’s apartment, not even pausing to consider the decision before he went to his car and headed out.

The former doctor found himself outside of Peter’s apartment, heart pounding in his chest so hard he could hear his blood rushing in his ears. He had no idea what to do, too wrapped up in the overwhelming urge to run into the building and find Peter. All of a sudden, the sharp wails of a police car jolted Tony back into reality when he for a second thought the police were after him again, but sighed in relief when it just passed him in a rush. Once he had more or less calmed down, Tony looked up at the window that he guessed was Peter’s, only to have his heart jump back into his throat when he actually saw the boy through his window. 

The boy was even more stunning than Tony could remember, and he began to hate himself for letting himself even forget some of the details of Peter’s face and just how gorgeous he was. Like a man dying of thirst in the desert dreaming of the taste and feel of water on his lips, Tony felt his lips tingle with the memories of kissing Peter and how heavenly it felt. For a moment, he really was drowning in the memories of Peter, the therapy, their intense make-out sessions, the food fight, and even the arguments. 

Tony was about to get out of his car, but then Peter disappeared from the window with his phone pressed to his ear and Tony was left waiting for the boy to reappear with his heart racing in his chest. But, Peter did not return to the window and Tony felt his heart ache with disappointment. Looking down at his hand, Tony found himself clutching the door-handle and remembered what he was about to do. However, for some reason, Tony moved his hand back to the steering wheel and headed off into the night in a hurry.


	96. 96

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunited after nearly two years apart.

For the fourth time in one month, Tony found himself outside of Peter’s apartment, looking up at the boy’s window longingly. But, after the scare of seeing May enter the building the second time he went, Tony was more careful about where he parked. One time, he parked down the block and then walked past the building instead, but with a cap and hoodie on just to be sure. The fear of being caught again was enough to make him cover up, but not to stop going to Peter’s apartment entirely. Just knowing he was close to the boy eased the ache in his heart which had been a constant sensation since he was arrested. But, the only thing that would make the ache go away completely would be to see Peter and that is exactly what Tony was planning. 

Or was Tony really gonna do this? How would that look if he got caught? What if Peter’s aunt or friends came in? Or... a new boyfriend? Tony felt his stomach drop at the thought of Peter with someone else. But, it has been almost two years since they had last seen each other. Maybe Peter wouldn’t like the obvious grey hairs that Tony had by his temples now. For a brief second, Tony turned around to head back to his car, but then he saw a light flick on and swallowed thickly when he realised it was Peter’s room.

“Bye, May!” Peter called out as his aunt left for her night shift at the hospital. He waited for the sound of the front door slamming, and then waited a little longer before rooting around in his backpack for his phone. There, he dialled the number of the local pizza place and placed his order. May didn’t particularly like him ordering food in nowadays, ever since she had started out a new diet and forced Peter to take part, but seeing as she was out… The man on the phone told him that it would be a thirty minute wait, and so Peter settled down in his room and waited… and waited… and waited.

Thirty minutes came and went, and Peter was still without his pizza. He frowned to himself, checking his phone again to see if maybe the pizzeria had called again to say it would be late, but nothing. He stood up from his desk chair to turn the light on, and then headed over to his window to open it and peer out in search of a delivery bike. He was almost leaning out of it, his head swivelling as he checked both ends of the street, but saw no motorbike. He huffed, and headed back in to start another game of Battlefront on his PS4.

When Peter’s window opened, Tony drew in a sharp breath and felt his heart skip at least two beats when his eyes fell upon Peter. The first thing Tony noticed, besides the pounding in his own chest, was that Peter had gotten a haircut. His neck was trimmed neatly and the short cut actually made his curls even curlier than when they were longer. The other thing that Tony noticed was how gorgeous and grown up he looked. When the window slammed shut again, Tony felt his cheeks ache at how widely he had been smiling while gazing at Peter. Tony had to go see him and looked around as he thought of some options, but his train of thought came to a halt when a food delivery worker hopped off his bike and skipped over to the main entrance. The delivery guy rang the bell to an apartment and when he slipped inside, Tony grabbed the door just in time to sneak into the apartment.

The buzzing of the bell by his door made Peter roll his eyes and quickly abandon his PS4 controller. 

“Finally…!” He muttered under his breath, and headed over to the bell to unlock the apartment building’s door. “Number 7’s door’s unlocked, just leave it on the table by the side of the door, thanks.” He said, and the static-y affirmative response was enough for Peter to retreat back to his bedroom, but with the door open so he could hear when the pizza guy entered. 

Following the delivery person without getting detected was easy enough for Tony considering he had headphones on. But still, Tony took some precaution and kept a safe distance, but when the delivery guy turned to head back down, he bumped into Tony. 

“Oh, you heading in here?” The guy asked and without even thinking first, Tony nodded. “All right, have a good night.” The guy smiled and then headed off. 

Peter heard the front door open and the sound of a cardboard box being placed against the table, and so he carefully made his way into the living room. When he saw the pizza box on the table, he hissed in excitement and immediately grabbed it to bring it to the coffee table in the living room. He collapsed onto the couch and instantly flipped the lid of the box before carefully lifting a slice of pizza to his mouth. 

Tony remained in his spot in the hallway for a while until he realised that Peter’s apartment door was open. He headed over and peered inside to find Peter by the sofa, stuffing a huge slice of greasy pizza in his mouth. Chuckling softly under his breath, Tony sighed before speaking. 

”What did I tell you about eating such junk?”  
Peter was so close to taking his first, triumphant bite, but then his heart dropped when he heard a voice that he had only heard in dreams and hallucinations over the last two years.  
He looked over, and sure enough the man himself was stood there, watching him with a fond smile. 

Peter dropped the slice of pizza and stood on shaky legs, not saying a word, though his eyes were blown wide and his hands trembled. He felt weak, but also like he had the strength to carry the world on his shoulders like Atlas as he took one small step, then another, and another towards Tony. He stopped at an arm’s length away, quickly wiping his hand against his jeans before lifting it to gently poke at the man’s face. 

“Y-You- You’re not real. I’m- This is another dream. You’re- You’re not real, this isn’t-“ He rambled aimlessly, his fingers eventually trailing down to touch the man’s beard.

The pure joy and overwhelming love Tony felt at finally seeing Peter was briefly interrupted with worry. Dreams? Had Peter been dreaming about him? Maybe even hallucinating? Slowly as not to startle the boy, Tony lifted his hand to wrap his fingers around Peter’s skinny wrist, then brought his hand to place a delicate kiss on the boy’s fingertips. 

“I’m real, baby, this isn’t a dream.” Tony said softly, then added in a teary chuckle. ”It’s even better than that.”

Peter watched the man’s movement intensely, like he was afraid that Tony would suddenly dissipate into nothing like his dreams always did, but the warm touch around his wrist made him whimper pitifully. He looked back up at Tony’s face with tear-filled eyes, and his bottom lip wobbled. 

“You- You came back. I thought you… that you’d forget about me.” He admitted, swallowing down the lump in his throat that only seemed to return twice as large.

“Forget you?” Tony asked, frowning in disbelief at the idea. “I could never forget you, Peter. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” He added, twisting his grip on Peter’s wrist so that their fingers were intertwined. The former doctor lifted his other hand to run through the boy’s curls, which were softer than what Tony could remember. “You got it cut recently.”

“Huh?” Peter was taken out of his awe-struck, loving daze for a moment when Tony referenced his hair. “Oh, it- May kept saying if it grew any longer then I’d have a curtain in front of my eyes, so… I got it cut the other week. Do you… do you like it?” He asked dumbly, watching Tony’s expression nervously. 

”I love it.” Tony replied quickly before leaning over to kiss Peter sweetly, but with urgency and held the boy close with a hand at the back of his head. And just like that, the ache in Tony’s heart was no more and the man could suddenly breathe so much easier. Peter was going to say something in response, but the kiss swallowed his words and he found himself melting into Tony’s touch. It also seemed to be the breaking point for him, as when they broke apart his chest shook and his breath hitched with cries. 

“You came back, y-you…” He could barely say anything else as he threw himself forward to hug the man tightly, tight enough that he was convinced he would never let go. “I-I never stopped thinking about you. I knew you’d come back.”

”I’ve thought about you too, Peter, every day. Every day.” Tony said back, his voice also breaking with tears as he hugged Peter back. Just like in his old office at the facility, when they were going to part ways, close wasn’t close enough. He hugged Peter as tight as he could and cried into the boy’s neck.

Despite his tears, Peter couldn’t help smiling at that. The knowledge that Tony had gone just as crazy in the time they had been apart made Peter’s heart slow down, and for that moment he felt like he could finally breathe. When they separated from their hug, he still gazed up at the man lovingly but then furrowed his brow. 

“You… You’ve got greys.” He said bluntly, lifting his hand to stroke at the greying hair by Tony’s temple.

”Just a couple.” Tony joked when actually there were a lot of greys in his hair now. To say prison had stressed him out was an understatement. Before Peter could make any more comments about his age, Tony pulled him back into another quick kiss, then another and another. ”I’ve missed you so much, I- I can’t even explain...” Tony huffed out, resting his forehead down on Peter’s. Peter had never felt this relaxed, yet nervous at the same time, in his life. Each press of Tony’s lips to his own were a reminder that he was here, alive, existing, and he couldn’t believe it. 

“C-Can we… can we sit? My legs are shaking too much.” He mumbled, taking a step back and leading Tony by the hand to the couch where he gently pushed the man down and moved to sit on his lap before he could say anything. It was like he was desperately trying to make up for two years of lost comfort, the way that Peter plastered himself to Tony’s chest.

Tony gladly let Peter lead him over to the sofa as he found his own legs to be a bit shaky too. When the boy moved to sit on his lap, Tony wrapped his arms around him on pure reflex and relaxed at the familiar comfort of their embrace. Tony took a moment to let his heart settle as slowly the realisation that he was finally with Peter got to him. Sighing softly, the older man spoke quietly. 

”Have you been doing okay?” Peter snorted derisively at that. 

“You- You might have to define ‘okay’ when you ask that.” He said, wriggling to free his arms so that he could fiddle with Tony’s shirt. “I had to stay at Rosewood for another four months after the trial. I retook senior year, but I didn’t get into college, so I got a job at Delmar’s grocery store.” He recapped briefly, turning his head so he could rest his ear above where Tony’s heartbeat pounded through his chest. “I hated being at Rosewood without you.” He admitted quietly.

”Four months?” Tony asked with a worried frown. After a long career in psychiatry, Tony knew that that was a long stay, and even more so considering it was Peter’s third admission. ”Who took over for me then? With you, I mean.” He asked, rubbing a hand up and down Peter’s back.

“Rhodey did. I… He was okay, but I just didn’t connect with him. I didn’t connect with anyone, I basically shut down.” Peter explained, sighing contentedly at the soothing action of Tony’s large hand stroking his back. “I used to have nightmares, so I never got any sleep. I eventually stopped talking to people willingly. By the time I left, the only person I spoke to was Steve cos… cos he understood what had happened.” Even though Peter didn’t say it, Tony knew he was at fault for all the hurt that the boy described. 

”I’m so sorry, Peter. I- I never should have let Stephen in, you know, that bastard I swear, he had the balls to come visit me and... I wanted to punch him so bad.” Tony chuckled a little before his face fell again. ”I’m so, so sorry, Peter. I never wanted all this to happen and I-” Peter interrupted him by quickly lifting his head and pulling the man’s chin so that they kissed, something quick to shut the man up. 

“It’s okay, Tony, I promise. Don’t blame yourself for this. If it makes you feel any better, I- I /actually/ punched Strange, so…” He said, his cheeks heating up as he remembered how he had thrown himself at the doctor in pure fury. Tony swallowed the last of his apologies and melted into Peter’s kiss, and slowly opened his eyes when they parted again. 

”You did? Oh, my God!” Tony giggled and kissed Peter quickly again, unable to stop grinning like an idiot. ”When? How?” He asked, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Peter found himself giggling as Tony’s face split into a wide grin. 

“It was before your trial, I was in Rosewood and I guess he was covering for another doctor, and I just… I saw him in the corridor and…” He leaned back away from Tony to mime a swinging punch, before dropping his hand back into his lap. “I only got him on the shoulder, but it looked like it hurt. Steve ‘n Thor had to put me up against a wall cos I wouldn’t stop screaming.” He said, his blush getting worse with embarrassment. “I-I was cursing him out ‘n everything.”

”Atta boy!” Tony laughed and grabbed Peter’s cheek to pull him into another kiss. When he pulled back, he squished the boy’s cheeks together and continued to laugh. ”I’m so proud of you! I would have done the same if I wasn’t cuffed while seeing him.” He laughed. Peter squealed in delight when Tony praised him, and continued to giggle as the man squished his face. However, at the mention of handcuffs, his face fell. 

“You- They had you in cuffs, I- I saw it at the trial. They didn’t hurt you, did they? I was so scared.” He said quietly, looking like he was about to start crying again at the thought of Tony in prison.

”Let’s not talk about that now, baby.” Tony said, forcing a smile when the memories of the prison stay came back to him. He doubted if he would ever want to share all that pain with Peter, not because he didn’t trust him, but because he didn’t want Peter to know all the pain. The boy had enough to deal with himself. Instead, Tony pulled Peter back into a hug. Peter wanted to argue against that, but he didn’t want to upset Tony. He let himself be guided back into another hug, and found himself crying once more against the man’s chest. 

“I missed you so much.” He said, his voice muffled by the man’s shirt as he pressed his teary face against it. “Please don’t leave again. Don’t want you to leave, Dah-“ His voice hitched on the last word before dying in his throat, and Peter couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Tony’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Peter almost call him by that title. That title that had brought them so close in the first place, but now it was almost a little unfamiliar. But, that was to be expected and Tony didn’t push Peter to repeat himself. 

”I’m not going anywhere, not again.” Tony comforted, stroking Peter’s back again. ”It’s okay, Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.” He added softly and kissed Peter’s temple once, then twice. Peter whimpered softly in response. Hearing Tony refer to himself as ‘Daddy’ was almost alien to him right now, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to call him that for some time. For now, he simply stayed quiet and snuffled closer to the man’s chest. After a moment of comfortable silence, Peter peered back to see the pizza that had been abandoned on the coffee table. 

“Do you… want something to eat?”

”Sure, baby. Sorry for interrupting your meal.” Tony chuckled and helped Peter lean over on his lap to grab his slice of pizza and then got him another. ”Have you been eating like this every day or what?” Tony joked playfully around his mouthful of pizza, poking at Peter’s stomach playfully. Peter giggled when Tony poked him in the stomach, and it turned into a quick game of him trying to bat the man’s hands away while Tony tried to poke him in various places. 

“No! Only when May’s not here, she’s got this new diet thing and she roped me into it, so we’ve been eating ‘healthily’.” He grumbled, but then his eyes widened in horror. “Shit, /May/! What- She can’t know that you’re back, she- she thinks that you’re the bad guy!” He panicked.  
At the mention of May, Tony struggled a bit with swallowing his bite of pizza. 

”She isn’t here now, is she?” Tony asked, although if she was, she would have found them long ago.

“No, she left for her night shift about an hour ago. She’ll be home at some ungodly hour of the morning tomorrow.” Peter said. He took another bite of pizza, but the worry of May finding out that Tony was back had now settled in the back of his mind. “It’ll be okay, I’m sure we can… figure something out.” He mumbled.  
Sighing a little, Tony lowered his gaze as he thought of the situation. He couldn’t let Peter go, not again, or they would both go mad. He was sure of it. 

”Let’s run away.” Tony suddenly suggested. Peter nearly choked on his mouthful when Tony said that. He turned away from the man to cough, hitting the centre of his chest with his fist. He eventually swallowed his pizza safely, and then turned back to face Tony. 

“Wh- Run away? To where? How? You’re not serious… are you?” Tony chuckled a little at seeing Peter choke, but of course helped him by patting his back firmly. 

”Yes, you and me, tonight. Let’s just get away from everything now that we are finally together again.” Tony explained, his eyes soft as he looked at Peter, waiting impatiently for an answer. Peter drew his bottom lip up to between his teeth and worried it gently as he thought about it. 

“Tony, I… I don’t know. I- May’s-“ He had trouble speaking, his mind going into overdrive at the thought of just the two of them together in a car, driving to God-knows-where. “Where would we go? I don’t…”

”Anywhere you want!” Tony smiled. ”Just you and me in the car, heading where ever.” He added, but then noticed the look of doubt on Peter’s face. ”Sorry, that’s a bit too much to ask.” Tony realised, chuckling nervously. Peter nodded in response. 

“It’s okay. Can I… have some time to think about it? I know you said tonight, but… it’s- I’d be leaving May, and that job at the grocery store, and…” Suddenly Peter’s thoughts were drawn to Beck, and his breath hitched in his throat, but when he looked back at Tony, he knew who he’d choose in a heartbeat.

”Of course.” Tony smiled, leaning over to plant a kiss on Peter’s forehead. ”Take all the time you need, baby.” He said and reached for his slice of pizza again and gestured for Peter to do the same.

Peter felt his anxiety melt away a little at the sight of Tony’s smile. He was glad that Tony wasn’t being pushy about it, and that for the time being they could just enjoy being in each other’s company. When Tony reached for his slice of pizza, Peter quickly leaned forward to take a bite out of it and giggled at the scandalised look on Tony’s face. He chewed smugly, his face in a wide grin.

”Hey! You got your own!” Tony laughed, elbowing Peter a little to keep him away from his pizza. ”Or, do you want me to feed you, baby boy?” Tony asked gently, putting on some of his ’Daddy’ tone. Peter recognised that tone of voice immediately, but shied away from it. 

“N-No, it’s okay. I’ve got my own.” He said, leaning over to pick up his slice where he had put it down. Although it was barely lukewarm now, he bit into it and hummed in appreciation. “Thought you didn’t like junk food?” He quipped, raising an eyebrow as he smiled once more. Tony knew then that Peter wasn’t ready for their playtime, so he put it aside, even though he really missed Peter calling him ’Daddy’. He would just have to wait till he was ready. 

”Well, I think I can make some exceptions now and then.” Tony chuckled, taking a bite himself and didn’t elaborate on it with the fact that he really liked the taste of junk food now after being fed awful food in prison. Peter shrugged at that but otherwise didn’t comment further, already finishing his slice and taking another from the box. He bit into it while studying Tony’s face, his head tilted slightly to one side as his eyes swept over the man’s greying hair, his stress lines. He still saw the crows feet at the corners of his eyes, and the telltale pull of his lips when he was about to smile, and seeing them in person meant more to Peter than he could properly express. He pulled Tony into another hug, burying his head against the man’s chest.

Tony continued to eat in silence then, cherishing the greasy and salty deliciousness of the pizza. Half way through his third slice, he felt Peter shift on his lap and put the pizza down to hold the boy again. 

“Hey, hey, no more tears, yeah? I’m here now and we can be together.” Tony assured, licking the grease from his lips before kissing Peter.

“‘m sorry, it’s just- it’s been so long, a-and I’m scared you’ll go again, and-“ Peter’s tearful rambling was cut off by Tony’s lips against his own, and he let his eyes slide shut as they kissed. When they broke apart, Peter hiccuped a couple of times, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “S-Sorry. You- You were all I dreamed about for six months, and even after I stopped dreaming, you- you were still here.” He said, tapping his temple with the tip of his index finger.

”Jesus, Peter.” Tony breathed out, cupping Peter’s cheeks in his hands. ”Did you talk about that with Rhodey?” He asked worriedly. Peter nodded. 

“He made me keep a diary, and most of it was me writing my nightmares down ‘n stuff.” He mumbled, tilting his head to press his face against Tony’s palm. “He’d make me rank the... the scariness of each dream out of 10. They weren’t all scary, though.” Tony had to admit that the diary was a useful tool for Peter to have. Even if he had ultimately caused the whole mess, Tony was happy that at least Rhodey could help Peter a bit during the tough times. 

“What did you dream about? And did you get them often? Did you fall asleep after?” Tony asked with the worried expression still on his face as he cupped Peter’s cheeks. Peter squirmed in the man’s lap, as memories of certain dreams came back to him. 

“S-Sometimes they were bad, like… I had a recurring one where we were in the courtroom, and you- I would try to get to you but you’d be in- in chains ‘n stuff. When they were bad I could never fall back asleep. Sometimes they were nice, I remember one where I think we went to watch a movie together but then we somehow ended up /in/ the movie, that was weird… Sometimes they’d be about us, uhm… doing stuff.” He ended lamely, his face heating up once more with embarrassment. 

“Oh, baby...” Tony sighed softly, running both hands through Peter’s hair, then let them rest at the back of his neck. “Did Rhodey give you sleeping pills then?” Tony guessed, as he still knew the facility guidelines and basically everything he would need to be a psychiatrist. The only thing was that he didn’t have his license anymore and would never get it back.

“Yeah, but… I didn’t take them at first. I- Taking them meant that I would stop having the good dreams as well, and… I didn’t want to stop seeing you.” Peter admitted, tears spilling down his face again. It had taken Peter a spate of three days without sleep to finally take them, and soon he had stopped dreaming about the man entirely even without them. “I hated it there. The only person I liked was Steve.”

Tony’s heart began aching in his chest again, but this was a different ache than the longing one he had felt in prison. This new ache was coloured with guilt. 

“Oh, Peter...” He sighed, then kissed the boy’s cheeks, trying to provide at least some comfort. “So, Steve looked out for you then? That’s good.” Tony smiled, a little relieved to know Peter had at least someone. Peter looked down at his lap when Tony kissed him on the cheeks, the embarrassment of his admission getting to him for a moment. After a few seconds, he looked back up to see Tony watching him. 

“Yeah, he… he was my ‘bodyguard’ during the trial, and then he was Uncle Stevie while you were gone.” He mumbled, fiddling with Tony’s shirt buttons again. “He used to… to tuck me in at night ‘n let me bother him with questions about him ‘n Bucky.”

“Uncle Stevie, huh?” Tony chuckled. “Did he sing to you too and check that there weren’t monsters under your bed?” He asked, not to tease, but rather to show that he didn’t mind how Steve had taken over some of his role as a Daddy while he was gone. Tony was grateful for it, as he had spent most of his sentence worrying about exactly how Peter was getting by without him. The boy scrunched his nose at that. 

“The monster thing was one time!” He whined, but then saw Tony’s facial expression. “Oh, you were… you were joking. It- Yeah, he was fine. It’s- Mhm.” He nodded, looking away embarrassed once more. In his defense, he had been particularly little that evening, which was a rare occurrence, and /swore/ he could have seen something looking at him from under the bed. “Would’ve been better to have you, though.”

“I can check under your bed and tuck you in tonight if you want.” Tony offered with a smile. “I doubt it’s a good idea for me to spend the night here.” He grimaced a little at the thought of May finding them. Peter thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. 

“It’s okay. Maybe another night.” He mumbled, turning back and leaning forward to pepper small kisses across Tony’s face. “I can’t believe you’re home.” He said quietly. “It doesn’t feel real.” Tony nodded before his face broke into a wide smile when Peter began to kiss his face. 

“It’s like a dream, but better.” He agreed, his voice just as quiet and soft as Peter’s as he spoke. “But, yeah, I’m home now.”

Peter pressed one final kiss against Tony’s lips, their longest kiss of the evening, and snuggled close to his chest to listen to his beating heart. They could deal with May and keeping things a secret in the morning, for now they could be truly happy for the first time in two years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yell at us on our tumblrs sunflowerstarker and professional-benaddict ;))


	97. 97

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter decides.

It took a week for Peter to come to his decision. He had spent hours thinking about it, weighing up the benefits of leaving everything behind with Tony with the pain of leaving /everything/ behind, including May. However, after his third fight with May that week, he had had enough. He shakily pressed the ‘dial’ button by Tony’s number and held the phone to his ear, gulping down his quiet sobs. Tony only really had one contact person on his new phone, so when it rang, he knew who it was even before he saw the caller ID. 

“Hey, Peter!” He grinned widely, pressing the phone to his ear. He was about to ask the boy if he wanted to meet up now that Tony had gotten some stuff sorted out at home after his sentence, but then he heard a quiet sob at the other end of the line. “What’s going on, baby? Why are you crying?”

“It- It’s May, she-“ Peter took a deep, steadying breath. “I-I wanna go. With you. I-I-I wanna go away, wanna…” He was struggling to find the words, but he hoped that Tony would pick up on the desperation in his voice. “May’s gone for her night shift, we could- we could go now.”

“Wait, oh- uhm...” Tony stuttered out, looking around where he stood in his living room. Well, it wouldn’t be his living room for long since he couldn’t afford the house for long. “I’ll come get you, okay? I’ll be there in 15, so- just hold on, yeah?” He stuttered out, panicking at the realisation that Peter was upset again. He hardly could deal with it after just the brief recap the boy had given him of how the last two years had been for him.

Peter nodded, but then realised that Tony wouldn’t be able to see that, so he made a soft noise to show he understood. He fell backwards onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, the phone still held to his ear as he didn’t have the heart to end the call. He sat back up again when he remembered what they were doing. They were going to be running away together. He had to pack stuff. Instantly he was up and moving around the room, grabbing things that he would need.

“Okay, just sit tight.” Tony said before ending the call and hurrying to gather his things. But, it hardly mattered what he brought, because all he needed was Peter, nothing more. Driving as quickly as he could do the apartment building, Tony jumped out of the car and made his way up to the door and pushed the doorbell. After a moment, he was let in and ran up the stairs to Peter’s apartment.

Peter had soon packed a gym bag with things he needed, but just before he was about to close his closet, he spotted Spidey at the back of it. He grabbed the stuffie out and looked down at it, a war going on his head as to whether to bring it along. He wasn’t sure whether he could ever comfortably regress again, but… Peter didn’t feel the same pain staring at it as he did before, so he kept a hold of Spidey’s leg as he hauled the gym bag into the living room in time for the doorbell to go off. He opened the front door after a few seconds to see Tony standing there, out of breath, and he dropped his gym bag to hug him tightly.

”Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Tony asked worriedly, rubbing Peter’s back as he held him tight. They broke apart momentarily for Tony to close the door before they hugged again. ”Why did you fight?”

“It- It’s a long story, I just- I’m sick of her coddling me all the time, I’m tired of it, I’m-“ Peter shook his head fervently as he hiccupped down his tears. “I-I wanna go with you. I wanna go.” He said, looking up at Tony with wide, watery eyes.

”Okay, okay, then lets go.” Tony assured easily. He wasn’t going to let the boy down, not again. ”Have you packed all you need?” He asked, seeing the bag on the floor.

“I think so.” Peter nodded, looking back down at the bag. “I dunno if you had any actual ideas about where we were gonna go, but… I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon.” He said shyly, making sure his eyes were big and puppy-like to get Tony to agree with him. “And, uhm, so has this guy.” He added, lifting Spidey up to show the man.

”Oh! I’ve missed this guy!” Tony laughed when his eyes fell upon Spidey. The toy reminded him of all their playtime together and his heart pounded in gleeful anticipation for more playtime. But, he had to remember not to push Peter too much. ”I haven’t thought of any destinations either, but that sounds like an amazing one.” He grinned. Peter smiled when he heard Tony laugh, and he tucked Spidey under his arm. 

“It’s far away, but… it’ll be fun to go with you. Make up for… for lost time, you know?” He said, the bright smile fading into something a little more fond, and maybe even a little sad. His tears had dried now, and he only had hope for the future.

”You, me and the Grand Canyon sounds like a dream come true, baby.” Tony chuckled tearily, cupping Peter’s cheeks to pull him into a deep and passionate kiss to make up for everything that they had lost. He pulled back after a moment to catch his breath and gazed lovingly at Peter. “But, before we go, you should leave your aunt a note. I know you’re upset and all, but you will regret leaving without saying anything.” He reasoned gently, stroking Peter’s cheekbone with his thumb.

Peter pursed his lips and sighed heavily through his nose. He knew Tony was right, he would regret it if he didn’t say anything to May. He took a step back to separate himself from the man, and then held up a hand to tell Tony to wait there. He headed back to his bedroom, grabbed some paper and pen and began to write. It took a couple of minutes, and a few scraps of paper, but soon he had written what he wanted and left it on his desk with the pen nearby. He didn’t move from the desk, though, staring down at the paper blankly as the realisation that they were really doing this hit him.

Tony let Peter take all the time he needed with the note and waited patiently in the living room. He could hear the boy scribbling, then crumbling paper and then steadily writing again. After a moment, he heard the pen click as Peter put it down. 

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can be more careful this time, you know?” Tony offered, feeling a bit like he was pushing the boy into the craziness of a sudden runaway. Peter shook his head. 

“I don’t wanna risk it. I- I can’t lose you again, and… it’ll never be careful enough, you know? I’ll always be scared, so… I wanna do this.” He said, turning to see Tony watching him from the doorway. He took one last look at the piece of paper and then stood up, walking over to the man and gently taking his hand. “You, me and the Grand Canyon.” He said quietly, a gentle smile taking over his face once more. Tony wasn’t about to argue with that and so he squeezes Peter’s hand gently in his. 

“Come on then, babe.” He smiled softly and started heading to the door with Peter a step behind him. Soon, it would be just the two of them, on the road to the Grand Canyon.

Peter followed Tony out of his room, but allowed himself one last glance back once they reached his front door. His eyes swept around the apartment one last time, but he quickly turned to Tony and let him guide them out of there, his gym bag clutched tightly in his other hand with Spidey’s leg also in his grip. He was nervous, but he wasn’t scared. Not with Tony. He doubted he would ever have to feel scared with Tony by his side again.


	98. 98

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the motel.

They had been travelling for about 4 days. They knew their end destination, the Grand Canyon, but not the route there, so they were free-wheeling it by going through different states and seeing the various cities that they drove through. Peter’s favourite city so far had been Nashville, although now his map told them that they were somewhere in Arkansas. They had pulled up to a cheap motel off the I-40, and Peter wasted no time in flopping onto the twin bed in their room. He groaned exaggeratedly, having been stuck in the car all day.

“Oh, yeah, you must be tired. But, who’s been driving all day, huh?” Tony groaned out with a laugh and flopped down on the bed too. He immediately noticed that this mattress was more firm that the three others they had slept on at the other motels. He had always preferred firmer mattresses and sighed in relief at knowing he would sleep well tonight. Peter squirmed to sit up, watching the man through narrowed eyes. 

“Excuse me, I was the one who expertly navigated us here, so I’m allowed to be tired. ‘s a lot of work, you know.” He said, sticking his tongue out at the man when he looked over at Peter, unimpressed. He was about to add something else, but then a yawn interrupted his train of thought. “’m… ‘m tired, Daddy.” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes but not noticing his slip.

Tony was about to say something clever and sarcastic, but then widened his eyes when he heard Peter call him by that title. It had only been a few days, an amazing few days, but he hadn’t expected Peter to get so comfortable already. Still, Tony wasn’t about to argue and smiled easily as he sat up to run his hands through Peter’s messy curls. The boy had pulled his hoodie over his eyes when he dozed in the passenger seat. 

”You wanna change into some pj’s and get comfy in bed, baby boy?” Tony said, slipping into the Daddy tone of voice like he had never even stopped using it. It was like Tony’s voice was a fast-track to getting Peter to slip even further into his headspace, and he nodded. His hand came up to pull at his bottom lip, and his gaze was somewhere in the middle distance as Tony’s hand running through his hair relaxed him. 

“Help me?” He asked timidly, sticking his arms and legs out to show he wanted help getting changed. Tony was a bit surprised by the request, but that didn’t stop him from helping Peter right away. First, the took the boy’s hoodie off, folding it more or less neatly before gesturing for Peter to lift his arms. 

“You feeling lil’, babe? It’s okay, Daddy’s here to take care of you and make you all comfy.” He assured with a smile, planting a kiss on Peter’s forehead after pulling his t-shirt off. Peter followed Tony’s gesture of lifting his arms, and held still as the man pulled his t-shirt off. 

“Comfy…” he parroted under his breath, before dropping his arms back down to his sides. He was still skinny, and in his littlespace it made him look even smaller. “My… ‘jamas are there.” He pointed over at his gym bag in the corner of the room.

“And so is Spidey, right?” Tony smiled, noticing how gentle and small Peter’s voice was now. The boy had been pretty steady with his level of maturity in his littlespace, but now he seemed younger. Tony couldn’t help but get excited over the thought of exploring different ages with Peter. Setting the bag on the chair by the desk in the room, Tony zipped it up and found the grey NASA pyjamas. He set them down on the bed before unbuttoning Peter’s jeans. ”You know what, Petey?”

“Spidey…! Need Spidey.” Peter nodded, lifting his arms and making gentle grabby hands in the direction of his gym bag, where Spidey was safely nestled in amongst his clothes and a few books. He got distracted by Tony moving around the room, and watched intently as he put his NASA pyjamas on the bed. When the man addressed him, he looked over. “Mm?” He responded, wiggling his toes as he watched Tony unbutton his jeans.

”Just a minute, baby.” Tony assured when Peter called for Spidey. ”Lift your little butt, mister.” He chuckled and once Peter obeyed, he pulled his jeans off and folded them too while he spoke. “I got a little something for you.” He teased with a smile as he pulled off Peter’s socks too. Peter made a whining noise at that. 

“Want Spidey!” He moaned, looking back over at the gym bag. However, at the teasing of a surprise, his eyes widened. “What is it? Wanna know, wanna know, tell me!” He said, kicking his legs in excitement as he made grabby hands again. He was becoming fidgety where he sat, even despite being in nothing but his underwear.

”Aren’t you wiggly and impatient?” Tony chuckled and went to put Peter’s clothes next to his bag, grabbing Spidey on his way back and handed it to the boy. ”It’s something you’ve seen before.” He hinted, picking up the pyjama pants and gesturing for Peter to stand up so he could step into them.

Peter grinned when Spidey was given to him, and he cuddled the stuffie as closely as humanly possible to his chest. He stood up when Tony gestured for him to do so, and hopped on the spot to get the pyjama pants up his legs. 

“Dunno, Daddy. Is it… a friend for Spidey?” He asked, holding the stuffie out in front of Tony’s face and wiggling it about.

”Ooh, that’s a good guess and we should get him a friend, but no. It’s something else.” Tony said and pulled the pants up, tying them up, but not too tight. The boy could really benefit from a junk food diet at least for a while, so that he could gain some weight. ”Guess again. You saw it when I was your doctor at Rosewood.” He hinted further and picked up the t-shirt to pull that over Peter’s head.

Peter was still fidgeting, but held still long enough for Tony to pull his pyjama t-shirt over his head. He struggled to fit his arms through, but once he was dressed he sat back on the bed. He wasn’t sat still, though, constantly changing position and moving around the mattress. 

“I /dunno/, Daddy!” He whined, sticking his bottom lip out in a shiny pout. 

”Okay, okay. Lemme go find it.” Tony said, heading over for his own bag and put it up on the desk. He searched for a moment before pulling out a pacifier from its clear box and showed it to Peter. ”We tried this during therapy, remember?” It wasn’t the same pacifier, but it was still one that Tony kept around because he knew he wanted a partner who would do ageplay with him. Peter stared at it for a moment, but then wrinkled his nose. 

“Nuh uh. That’s-“ He looked down at his stuffie, who was perched in his lap, and then held it up. “Spidey says they’re for /babies/. ‘m not a baby.” He said adamantly, crossing his arms with a huff and rolling over on the bed. 

”It’s not just for babies, Petey, big boys can use them too because they feel good.” Tony assured with a chuckle, but still put the pacifier back in its box. “But, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, babe.” He added, grabbing Peter by his ankles to pull him closer to the edge of the bed. Peter opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a squeal when Tony pulled him across the bed by his ankles. He burst into giggles, batting the man’s hands away from him. 

“Tickles, Daddy!” He squealed, trying to fold his legs beneath him so that Tony couldn’t grab them again. “No tickling, Wolfie.” He said, pointing an accusatory yet playful finger right between the man’s eyes.

”But, it’s been so looooong!” Tony groaned out dramatically, dropping to his knees so that Peter for once was taller than him up on the bed. ”Can’t the Wolfie get just one little taste of a finger?” He asked, pulling his best puppy eyes, or wolf pup eyes. Peter scrunched his face up when Tony dropped to his knees, and squished the man’s face in his hands. 

“Poor Wolfie, no fingers for him!” He giggled, but indulged the man by leaning forward and kissing his puckered lips quickly.

”Ugh, are you sure? Not even just a little nibble?” Tony laughed, turning his head and snapping his jaws at Peter’s hand when it was so close to his mouth. Peter shook his head and quickly moved his hands away from Tony’s mouth when he snapped his jaws. 

“Nuh uh!” He clapped his hands impatiently and made grabby fists for Tony to give him /his/ hands, and began playing with his fingers like he used to do. Eventually he brought Tony’s hand up to his face and pressed his cheek against it, watching the man dazedly.

”You’re looking real sleepy, baby.” Tony cooed, stroking the boy’s cheekbone and enjoying the way he was latching onto him. It made him feel important and needed again. ”Shall I turn on the TV for you and you can watch something fun while I shower? Daddy’s all sweaty and stinky from a long drive.” He laughed, pulling a grimace at the boy. Peter whined at that, shaking his head. 

“Don’t go, Daddy.” He mumbled quietly, his eyes wide. Tony’s thumb was at his bottom lip, and before he was thinking about what he was doing, Peter had latched onto it and sucked it into his mouth, his cheeks hollowing slightly as he sucked on the man’s thumb. Tony widened his eyes when his thumb was suddenly wrapped around Peter’s wet and perfect lips. He chuckled softly, bringing his free hand up to stroke at the boy’s cheek. 

”I’ll be just behind that wall, baby, I won’t go far.” Tony assured with a smile. Peter frowned. 

“Don’ wan’ Da’y to go.” He said, his voice distorted by the man’s thumb in his mouth. “Wan’ Da’y /here/.” He mumbled, his puppy dog eyes in full effect. Tony’s thumb soon slipped out of his mouth, but he didn’t care as he kept his admittedly adorable frown on his face.

“Oh, don’t pull those eyes on me, you’ll melt my poor old heart!” Tony winced with a laugh, pinching Peter’s cheek. ”Okay, what if you come shower with me then. Would that be okay?” He suggested. The pinch to his cheek wiped the frown from Peter’s face and he giggled, batting Tony’s hand away lightly. At his suggestion, he hummed but ultimately shook his head. 

“No, ‘s... ‘s okay. Daddy can shower, just...” He then pointed at the door and made a gesture with his hand, signalling he wanted Tony to keep the bathroom door open so that Peter felt better about Tony being away from him.

”Leave the door open?” Tony guessed and then nodded back when Peter confirmed that is what he wanted. ”Okay, baby, you get all cozy and I’ll be right back.” He assured, giving the boy a good kiss before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV for the boy so that he would be somewhat entertained.

Peter smiled in response, and gladly leaned in to the kiss when Tony kissed him. He watched the man leave, not before making a show of leaving the door open, and turned to the TV to see what was playing. It was on some boring antiques show, so Peter clicked through the channels with the remote before settling on a channel that was showing a re-airing of an old Simpsons episode. He snuggled on the bed with Spidey, but it still felt like something was missing. He kept glancing over at the pacifier in its box, and finally grabbed it to put in his mouth. He settled back against the pillows, content with the paci in his mouth.

Tony took his time in the shower, washing away all the built up tension in his shoulders from driving all day. But, he didn’t spent too much time either, knowing that Peter wanted him back as soon as possible. With his hair still damp and in some fresh pyjamas, Tony exited the bathroom and to his surprise, he found Peter suckling the pacifier on the bed, all cuddled up to Spidey. Tony approached the bed slowly so that he wouldn’t startle Peter. 

”Hey, baby, Daddy’s back.”

Peter wasn’t paying much attention to the TV by the time Tony came back, instead he was lightly dozing with his arms wrapped loosely around his stuffie. When he heard Tony’s voice, he turned to see him by his head and instantly lifted his arms, a clear gesture for cuddles. 

“Da’y!” He said brightly, his paci falling out of his lips as he spoke.

”Hi! Did you miss me tons?” Tony asked with a grin, climbing up on the bed and took the fallen pacifier, offering it to Peter again. But, he didn’t make any comment on it yet because he didn’t want to push Peter to use it in front of him if he didn’t want to. Peter nodded as he shuffled to make room for Tony on the bed. Once Tony was situated, he clambered onto the man’s lap facing him, the TV no longer interesting him. 

“Missed Daddy. Missed Daddy lots ‘n lots.” He mumbled. He looked at the pacifier for a moment, but pushed it aside in favour of taking Tony’s thumb back into his mouth and suckling on it gently. “Da’y miss me?” He asked, looking up at Tony with wide eyes.

”You gonna eat my thumb?” Tony laughed, setting the pacifier on the nightstand with his free hand. ”’Course I missed you, baby boy. I missed your fluffy and soft cheeks, and your smile, and your pretty eyes and your curls.” He listed, planting a kiss on different spots on Peter’s face between each word. Peter cooed happily around the man’s thumb, and carefully nibbled down on it as a joke. When Tony began kissing his face all over, he screwed his eyes shut but continued to giggle regardless. 

“Daddy’s pretty!” He said, removing Tony’s thumb from his mouth so that his voice wasn’t garbled. “Prettiest!” He pointed his finger at the man’s face, before pressing the tip of his index finger to the man’s nose.

”No, you’re the prettiest!” Tony argued back, pulling Peter close to his chest and smothering him with even more kissed to silence him so he wouldn’t argue more. ”Little Daddy’s boy...” Tony chuckled, pulling back a little to let Peter breathe. Peter squealed again when he was ambushed with kisses, leaning his head back to try and escape with little effect. When he had the chance to breathe, he reached over and grabbed Spidey, who had been briefly forgotten on the side of the bed. 

“Nuh uh, Spidey thinks Daddy’s prettiest! ‘S us against you, we win!” He said triumphantly, bouncing Spidey against Tony’s chest and wiggling his legs about. Tony groaned out when he realised he was outnumbered and shook his head before accepting his defeat. 

”Okay, you win now, but when we get Spidey a friend, he’ll be on my side and then we’ll win.” Tony promised with a chuckle. Peter grinned widely at that. 

“We win! We win!” He laughed, tossing the stuffie up into the air and catching it before it could drop onto Tony’s chest. “What’s my prize for winning?” He asked, tilting his head one way and pawing gently at Tony’s pyjama shirt, not to remove it but just because he enjoyed fiddling with the fabric.

”Hmm, what about the snacks we bought? I think you deserve a little treat, baby.” Tony smiled, remembering the leftover chips and candy that they still had. They had eaten dinner before going to the motel, but Tony had intentionally brought the snacks they had in the car in the hopes of Peter eating them. He really didn’t like how skinny the boy was again, but he didn’t say that aloud.

“Yeah!” Peter scrambled to clamber off of Tony’s lap and off the bed, making a beeline for Tony’s bag where the snacks rested near the top. “Daddy, d’you want the M&Ms or the gummies?” He asked from where he was crouched by his bag.

”Just bring everything, baby.” Tony chuckled and watched as Peter climbed up on the bed again with all their snacks. On the TV, another Simpsons episode started, filling the motel room with some nice background noise. ”What if we stayed here for a few days, hm? We could check out the mall nearby.” Tony suggested, popping some M&Ms in his mouth. In his littlespace, Peter moving around the room looked a lot like a newborn deer trying to navigate itself. He buried himself under Tony’s arm and threw one of his legs over the man’s so that he was plastered against his Daddy like a koala. 

“Shopping?” He asked, frowning. “Don’ like shopping, ‘s /boring/.” He grumbled. “But... will go with Daddy.” He decided. Spending time with Tony was enough for Peter to bear a few hours of shopping.

“We need some clothes, grumpy.” Tony chuckled, tapping Peter’s lips. “And a friend for Spidey, hm?” He reminded, laughing at how Peter’s eyes lit up. Peter made more nonsense grumbling noises, but the promise of a new stuffie got him excited. 

“Yeah, a friend! Miss having toys, we don’t even have Legos.” He pouted, but when Tony kept tapping at his lips he caught the man’s finger between his teeth and growled playfully. 

”Ow!” Tony yelped a little with a laugh before pulling his hand back. “Eat the candies for now, yeah? Daddy needs his fingers.” He chuckled, offering Peter a red gummy bear. Peter blew a raspberry in Tony’s direction, but opened his mouth for the man to drop the gummy bear onto his tongue. As he chewed, a huge grin spread across his face, and he leaned down to rest his head on Tony’s chest. 

“Gummy bears... they’re bears like you! You- You’re Daddy bear, ‘n ‘m baby bear, remember?” He asked, poking the man in the stomach.

”Awh, yes, I’ve missed my baby bear.” Tony cooed, wrapping his arms around Peter as he sank lower in the bed. He could lay here forever, it felt. ”Was Stevie also Uncle bear or?” He asked. Peter shook his head. 

“Nuh uh. Stevie was just Stevie. He gave me cuddles, but they weren’t as good as Daddy’s.” He said, making a small whining sound for Tony to feed him another gummy bear. He was momentarily distracted by the Simpsons episode on TV, and found himself snorting with laughter at it, but soon turned his attention back to Tony. “Missed Daddy bear, missed Daddy bear so much.” He mumbled, his voice getting a little quieter. Tony hummed thoughtfully in reply, but decided not to ask more about how the last two years had been for Peter. He wouldn’t want to upset the boy, and especially not in his littlespace. 

”I missed you more, baby bear. But, now we are together and no one’s gonna pull us apart again.” He assured, stroking Peter’s back.

“Promise, Daddy?” Peter murmured, lifting his head to look Tony in the eye. “You gotta… gotta make a pinky promise. Scout promise, pinky promise, everythin’ promise.” He said, pushing the man back and shuffling so that he was now sat directly on top of Tony’s chest with his legs astride the man’s torso. Tony looked up at Peter, complete adoration and dedication to his boyfriend showing in his eyes. He lifted both his hands to intertwine both his pinkies with Peter’s. 

“I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.” He added, smiling softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's just two chapters left of this... How do you all feel about that?   
> Feel free to yell at us on our tumblrs professional-benaddict and sunflowerstarker and maybe check out the tag 'GDBS' to see what new fic we are working on... ;))


	99. 99

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is sweet and full of stuffies.

As promised, the next day Tony and Peter went to the local mall together. It was a decent size considering where they were, and they spent a couple of hours walking around buying new clothes, toiletries, and other things they would need. The mall even had a Build-A-Bear, so Peter picked out an orca whale stuffie to be Spidey’s friend. By the time they got back to the motel, the boy was grumpy having been shopping for so long, but he was happy playing with his new orca whale while he watched Tony unload the shopping.

Since they were lucky enough to have a fridge and microwave at the motel, Tony and Peter had bought some groceries and decided to have microwave dinners while staying in. They just wanted to be the two of them after being separated for so long. After finishing up with the groceries and putting aside the rest of the shopping, he turned to Peter who was sat on the bed with his new stuffie. 

“So, have you thought of a name yet?” Tony asked. Peter pursed his lips at that, clearly deep in thought. He wiggled his toes as he thought, looking down at his whale and then back up at Tony. 

“I was thinkin’… Moby? Like, uhm, the whale from that book.” He mumbled, looking down at the stuffie again. “Moby-obi.” He giggled, and then held the stuffie up like he was waiting for approval.

”Moby sounds great.” Tony smiled, leaning down to give the toy a kiss before giving Peter one. He couldn’t quite believe that this was their life now. It truly was a dream, but better than that. “Now, are you hungry? Then we can have a bath after.”

“Mhm!” Peter nodded, kicking his legs at the prospect of food. His stomach made a growling noise, and he frowned down at it for being so loud. He clambered across the bed to get Spidey, and sat the two stuffies down face to face like they were having a conversation. “They’re talking in a secret language, ‘s why we can’t hear them.” He said matter-of-factly to Tony, who seemed to be watching him with an amused look on his face.

”Ah, I see. Do you think they’re talking about us?” Tony asked, having no trouble keeping up with Peter’s littlespace imagination, which he found increadibly endearing. Opening the fridge, Tony got both his and Peter’s meals out, but of course heated up Peter’s first.

"Hmm..." Peter paused to lean closer to his stuffies, like he was trying to listen to what they were saying. "They're talking about... you! Sayin' you're the best Daddy, 'n you give good cuddles." He nodded, turning around to see Tony putting his meal in the microwave. He got up off the bed and went over to watch the plastic container spin in the microwave, his head tilted to one side as he watched. "'m hungry, Daddy." He whined.

”Oh, that’s very kind of them.” Tony blushed a little at the compliment. ”Make sure to tell them I said thank you.” He added, smiling when Peter nodded while he watched the microwave closely. ”Just a few minutes, baby.” He assured with a chuckle. When the microwave beeped, Tony stopped Peter from opening it and pushed the boy aside. ”Let Daddy do this, baby, it’s very hot.”

Peter whined again at that, but stepped aside regardless to let Tony take the container out of the microwave. There was a tiny table with two chairs in the corner of the room, and so he scurried to sit down while he impatiently waited for his food. He left his stuffies on the bed, not wanting to get food on them by accident, and swung his legs back and forth under the chair as he waited.

”Good boy, Peter.” Tony praised when he didn’t have to command the boy to the table. Getting Peter a fork, Tony set it down along with the soda he had picked out at the store. But, he kept the container for another minute so that Peter wouldn’t burn himself and started cooking his own dinner.

Peter flushed at the praise, and continued to swing his legs as he waited for his food. However, even in the extra minute he had to wait, he put his head against the table and sprawled his arm across it to take up as much space as possible. 

"Daddy, 'm /hungry/!" He pouted dramatically. "'m gonna staaaarve! 'm gonna starve, 'n then... then you won't get cuddles!"

”Baby...” Tony laughed, bringing the container over before tending to his own food. ”Be careful though.” He warned, watching from the corner of his eye to make sure Peter didn’t burn himself. Once his own food was ready, he went to sit opposite Peter. ”Is it good?”

Peter took his head and arms off the table so that Tony could put his food down, but when it was finally in front of him he hesitated to pick up his fork. He looked over at Tony, who was still fixing his own food, and then back down at his container. Even when Tony sat down, he hadn't touched it. 

"I- It..." He pursed his lips, wanting to say what was on his mind but not wanting to bother his daddy. "Want... Want Daddy's help." He mumbled quietly, clearly embarrassed.

”What was that, little one?” Tony asked, stirring his food. ”Don’t you like it?” He asked further, curious to why Peter wasn’t eating yet when he had said so many times that he was hungry. Peter glanced up at Tony, and then down at his food, then back up again. 

"Want Daddy's help." He said, picking up his fork and offering it to the man in front of him. He usually insisted on eating food himself, but he was tired from their mall trip and so didn't mind Tony feeding him.

”Oh, okay.” Tony said as he finally heard Peter and understood his wish. ”Wanna sit on my lap?” He offered, patting his knees. It would be easier for Tony to also eat if Peter was close to him.

Peter nearly fell out of his chair at the speed of which he moved to sit in Tony's lap. He hopped up onto the man's knee and swung his legs inwards so that he was sat sideways, and shot a quick but bright smile in Tony's direction. His embarrassment had dissipated seeing as Tony had agreed to his wish so easily, and he wriggled to get comfy as Tony dragged his food container across the table.

”You good now? All comfy?” Tony asked with a smile, more than happy to help Peter out with eating. Even if he didn’t have his license anymore, he still had all the medical and psychiatric knowledge to still care for Peter. He was very much planning to do so. Stirring Peter’s food a little and making sure it wasn’t too hot, Tony offered Peter a bite.

The boy nodded at that, squirming minutely a few more times before becoming still and patient. When the bite of food was offered to him, he opened his mouth and accepted. It was spaghetti bolognase, and he took a few seconds to chew and swallow. 

"'s good." He nodded, humming quietly to himself as he waited for Tony to offer him his next bite.

”That’s good and once you’ve eaten your dinner, you can have dessert, baby.” Tony promised, getting Peter another bite before starting on his own food. He didn’t bother picking up another fork, and just used the same one instead while keeping his other arm wrapped around Peter’s middle. Peter's eyes lit up at the promise of dessert. 

"De'ert!" He said excitedly around his mouthful of food, but shut his mouth when Tony gave him a look for talking with his mouth full. He let Tony eat for a little while, swinging his legs gently back and forth as he looked around the motel room. He could see Spidey and Moby still on the bed facing one another, and in Peter's little mind they were in a deep discussion so the boy left them to it.

”Hmm, I got us some chocolate pudding.” Tony smiled before eating some of his food. After two mouthfuls, he decided to give Peter another bite. ”Baby.” He called softly, chuckling when Peter whipped his head around and nearly bumped into the forkful of food he was holding out for the boy. Peter made a quiet yelping noise of surprise when he turned around and found the forkful of food right by his nose. He took the bite and smiled around it, waiting until he swallowed it down to say. 

"I like chocolate pudding! 's my favourite." He leaned over to rest his temple on Tony's shoulder while Tony ate, and gently lifted a hand to tickle at the man's beard.

”I know, and that’s why I got it. But, just one cup, yeah? We don’t want your teeth to fall out.” Tony joked, laughing around his mouthful of food when Peter began tickling him. He wasn’t ticklish, but it still felt a bit odd. He offered Peter another bite to distract him.

“No teeth! I’d be all gummy, ‘n drink stuff through straws!” Peter giggled, curling his lips down over his teeth to give the impression that he had lost his teeth. When the fork of spaghetti was offered to him, he quickly uncurled his lips and took the bite graciously. He dropped his hands away from Tony’s beard, seeing how the man seemed to be moving his head away from his wiggling fingers. “Would you… still be my Daddy if I had no teeth?”

”Of course, baby boy!” Tony chuckled, bouncing his knee to make Peter bounce too. ”But, I think it would be better if you have teeth, so you could eat yummy chips and such. And pasta.” He added, giving Peter another bite before getting himself one. Peter giggled when Tony bounced him on his knee, his hands coming down to grip onto the man’s thigh so that he didn’t accidentally slip off of his lap. 

“You’d have to mush it all up if I had no teeth.” He said before taking his bite, chewing thoughtfully as he imagined what it would be like to have no teeth. “What if… I wasn’t so cuddly? Would you still be my Daddy if I wasn’t so cuddly?” He asked, like it was the most urgent question in the world.

”Hmm, I do love cuddles with my baby bear, but yes, I’d still be your Daddy.” Tony said, not really needing to think of his answers because as long as Peter was who he was, Tony would love him unconditionally. He took another bite of his food, waiting for another question.

“Hmm…” Peter narrowed his eyes and leaned in close to the man’s face, like he was trying to decipher whether Tony was lying or not. “What abouuuut… if I never let go of you. Like this!” He said, and wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s shoulders like a koala. Tony yelped a little before setting the fork down and wrapped his arms around Peter. 

”Well, then I’d definitely have to be your Daddy because you’d never let go of me.” Tony argued with a grin. Peter nodded vigorously, smiling proudly at that. 

“’n I’d give you kisses always!” He said, before beginning to press kisses against the man’s cheek and jawline. He even leaned around to press one to his nose, squinting his eyes shut with happiness as he did so.

”Sounds wonderful.” Tony mused with a smile, stealing a kiss from Peter before offering him another bite. ”You’re almost done with your food now. Are you getting full, baby?” Peter nodded. 

“One more?” He asked, leaning forward and taking the bite when it was offered to him. “Wait… one more.” He giggled, but after that bite he pushed his container away from them to indicate he was finished. “Pudding?” He asked hopefully. Tony chuckled at Peter’s inability to decide before focusing on his own food. 

”Can Daddy finish eating first?” Tony asked, passing Peter’s soda over to him so that he could busy himself for a while.

“Oh! Sorry.” Peter said sheepishly. He had completely forgotten that Tony hadn’t finished eating yet, and so unwound his arms from around the man’s neck to take the soda can. He held it in both hands as he drank some, his fingers drumming against the metal sides, and placed it back down on the table while he sat and waited for Tony to finish eating.

”Good boy.” Tony praised again when Peter let him eat. After a moment or two, he finished his meal and sat back with his own drink. ”You all full, baby? No room for dessert now I bet.” He laughed and patted the boy’s stomach.

“Nooooo, I want pudding!” Peter whined, squirming on Tony’s lap when the man patted his tummy. “Me ‘n… ‘n the stuffies want chocolate.” He said, turning to look over at his stuffies again. “Moby said he’s never had chocolate before.” 

”Never had chocolate?” Tony gasped, ushering Peter down from his lap to throw away the empty food containers. ”Then we really gotta have our dessert so he can have a taste.” He added, getting the pudding from the fridge and offering one cup to Peter. ”Do you want Daddy to feed you again?” Peter hopped off of Tony’s lap, making a beeline to grab both Moby and Spidey off of the bed. 

“Hmm…” He stuffed both toys under his arm to take the pudding cup, and waited for Tony to sit down before he clambered back onto his lap. “Nuh uh, ‘m okay. Still wanna sit with Daddy though.” He said, swinging his legs happily now that he had his pudding.

”Okay, good boy.” Tony smiled, handing Peter a spoon. After opening his cup, Tony took a big bite of his pudding, humming in pleasure a little dramatically to humour Peter. Peter giggled in response to Tony’s noises, and followed his example by opening his own cup of pudding and dipping his spoon into it. He made a small noise of pleasure too, and pretended to offer Spidey a bit before putting it in his mouth. When Tony was busy focusing on his own cup, Peter stuck the tip of his finger into his pudding cup and swiped the pudding onto the tip of Tony’s nose. When Tony suddenly felt something wet and sticky on his nose, he yelped a little and looked at Peter accusingly. But, he couldn’t help but laugh. 

”You remember our food fight?” Tony asked, smiling at the two year old memory. Peter furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, but his expression brightened as he remembered it. 

“Yeah! That was fun. Daddy started it.” He lied poorly, looking away from Tony as if looking the man in the eye would cause his lie to fall apart.

”Yeah, yeah, Daddy started it.” Tony chuckled, his voice a little thick with sarcasm and bounced Peter on his knee. ”I distinctly remember that you flicked potatoes at me, not me at you.” He added, grinning around his spoonful of pudding, not caring much about the spot still at the tip of his nose. Peter yelped when he was suddenly bounced on Tony’s lap, and turned to see Tony grinning at him. 

“You were callin’ me… callin’ me a brat! ‘s your fault.” He said, sticking his tongue out at the man playfully. He remembered the day very well, how their food fight started but also how it ended.

”Because you were a brat!” Tony argued back with laugher in his voice. He also stuck his tongue out at the boy before dipping his finger in the pudding and tapping Peter’s nose. 

“Nooooooo!” Peter squealed and desperately tried to clean the pudding off of his nose. He was about to get Tony back again, but decided to wait. He stuck his spoon back into his cup and continued to eat, a feigned look of innocence on his face as he did so. He wanted to get the man by surprise.

Tony chuckled before wiping his own nose clean as well and focusing on his pudding. But, he kept one eye fixed on Peter because he knew the boy was plotting something.  
Peter kept up his innocent look until the cup was almost finished, humming a small tune to himself as he got near the bottom. Without warning, he scooped the rest of the pudding out with his fingers and aimed for Tony's face, giggling like a maniac as he tried to smear as much of it across the man's cheeks as possible.

“Peter!” Tony cried out, his voice muffled by Peter’s hand on his face. The man blinked owlishly a few times before looking at the boy, his mouth gaping. “Oh, you little...” Tony grumbled, but instead of using the rest of his pudding to get revenge, he grabbed Peter’s wrists. He then pulled the boy close and rubbed his face against Peter’s, spreading the pudding everywhere.

Peter froze when Tony blinked at him, and for a second he was worried that he had gone too far. However, when Tony suddenly dragged him forward and rubbed their faces together to get the chocolate pudding back onto Peter’s face, the boy began squealing. 

“Daddy noooo! ‘s sticky, noooooo!” He giggled, squirming to try and break free of the man’s grip. “’m all messy!”

“Yeah, that’s what you get!” Tony laughed at Peter’s surprise when he got a taste of his own medicine. ”How about we try the bath? You can bring those duckies that you bought.” He added, but still held onto Peter’s wrists. Peter wrinkled his nose at Tony getting his revenge, but the prospect of checking out the bath made his face relax and an excited smile spread across his face. 

“Duckies! I wanna ducky.” He said, twisting to try and look over at the shopping bag at the other end of the room. He began squirming as well, a clear sign he wanted to get off the man’s lap.

”Okay, go get the duckies, but leave Spidey and Moby here.” Tony said, giving Peter’s behind a pat. Getting up from the chair, Tony headed to the bathroom and started to clean up his face and run the bath.

Peter nodded, not even caring about the pudding on his face in that moment as he rushed to the shopping bag to get his new rubber ducks. There were two, one dressed as a pirate and one dressed as a naval admiral, and he grabbed them out of the bag before heading to the bathroom. He stood a little awkwardly at the doorway watching Tony clean his face with his ducks clasped tightly in both hands. After drying his face with a towel, Tony finally noticed that Peter was watching him and chuckled. 

”You got your buddies?” He asked, inviting Peter in properly from the doorframe before he started to undress. Peter shuffled into the bathroom and held his ducks up to show that he had them. When Tony began getting undressed, Peter looked away shyly with a soft blush colouring his cheeks, and continued to sway backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet as he waited. 

“Can… Can Daddy help…?” He asked, pulling at his clothes to indicate he wanted Tony’s help taking them off.

”Sure thing.” Tony smiled, putting his shirt aside. But, before he began to undress Peter, he wet the corner of a towel and cleaned the boy’s face. ”Petey, there’s one thing I was wondering about.” Peter smiled at Tony’s willingness to help him, and held still as the man wiped his face clean of chocolate pudding. 

“Hm?” He responded quietly when Tony spoke again, opening his eyes once his face was clean and looking up quizzically at the man.

”You used the paci yesterday and I thought you looked adorable with it.” Tony smiled as he got the last bit of pudding off Peter’s cheek. But, he didn’t move from in front the boy and looked at him lovingly. ”I was wondering if you’d like to use it again.” Peter scrunched his nose up when Tony said he looked adorable, but that face only lasted a moment. 

“Dunno.” He shrugged simply. “Sometimes… sometimes I wanna, but… sometimes I don’t. I’unno.” He pursed his lips in thought. “Like… sometimes I say it’s for babies, but… sometimes I wanna be the baby.” While Peter explained, Tony began to undress him and pulled off his hoodie. 

”Yeah, that’s all okay. Sometimes feeling like a bigger boy, sometimes more like a baby.” He said softly before unbuttoning Peter’s jeans. ”You know, Daddy loves you no matter what, okay?”

Even despite Peter’s littlespace, he could tell that Tony telling him that he /loved/ him was a big deal. He paused from where he had braced his hands on Tony’s shoulders to help balance himself while his jeans were being taken off, and for a moment remained silent. 

“I- I love Daddy too.” He said quietly, his face flushing a bright red while it felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Only when Peter said it back did Tony realise what he had said. His face broke into a wide smile and he cupped Peter’s cheeks in his hands before kissing him. 

”I love you, Peter.” Tony said again in a gentle whisper. Peter couldn’t resist smiling against Tony’s lips when he kissed him. 

“I l-love you, Tuh- Tony.” He said. He wasn’t used to saying Tony’s name in littlespace, so his voice was wobbling and child-like as he said it, but he didn’t let it stop him. After their moment was over, Peter tried to kick the rest of his jeans off to leave him in just his underwear.

”Okay, lets get you in the bath with your duckies.” Tony smiled, seeing that Peter was getting a little awkward with their love confession. Honestly, Tony didn’t mind and gladly helped Peter out of his jeans and then out of his underwear. “Just wait till Daddy checks the water, okay?” Nodding quickly, Peter looked away and out of the bathroom door to check that Spidey and Moby were still sat together. 

“They’re playin’ nice.” He mumbled, and when Tony looked at him confusedly, he pointed over at his stuffies. He shuffled to the edge of the bathtub and peered inside. “’s it okay?” He asked.

”Ah, so they are besties. That’s good. Would be a terrible roadtrip if they were arguing all the time.” Tony laughed and went over to the bathtub to check the water. After fixing the water to a little cooler, Tony shut the water off and took his own jeans off. “It’s ready now.”

“They’re talkin’ in their language again.” Peter mumbled under his breath as an afterthought, but his attention was now focussed on getting into the bath. He stuck a toe in experimentally, and waited for a few seconds before gently climbing in. He scooted to one end to give room for Tony to get in, and placed his ducks on the edge of the bathtub.

“Which language is that?” Tony asked as he removed his underwear and then climbed into the bath with Peter. The water felt heavenly and Tony relaxed in an instant, then scooted closer to Peter.

“It’s… it’s so secret it doesn’t have a name.” Peter said matter-of-factly. He took his two ducks off of the side of the bathtub and placing them on top of the water. He waited for a moment, watching them bob gently before pushing them about a bit. When he saw Tony moving towards him, he did the same and moved backwards so that he was now sat between Tony’s legs, with his back flush to the man’s chest.

”That’s better.” Tony smiled when Peter came over to sit between his legs. He wrapped his arms around the boy on reflex and rested his cheek at the top of his head. ”You okay, baby? Are you happy?”

“Mhm.” Peter nodded, feeling how the man’s cheek moved across his head as he nodded. 

“’m happy, Da.” He said, pushing the ducks around the water aimlessly. His hands came to rest on top of Tony’s, pushing at his knuckles like he always did, and then one damp hand came up and patted the side of Tony’s face gently to show he was okay.

”That’s good, that’s good. Little boys are supposed to be happy.” Tony mused, watching how Peter played with his two ducks. For a second, the domestic feeling of their whole bathtime hit Tony like a train and he felt his heart ache with how much he loved Peter. Subconsciously, Tony squeezed Peter just a bit tighter in his arms. Peter could feel Tony squeezing him, but didn’t question it. He hummed lightly to himself as he played, picking the ducks up and examining them closely. 

“Look, Daddy, this one’s a… a pirate! ‘n then this one’s a… a- an admi- a sea one!” He said, stumbling over his pronunciation of ‘admiral’.

“Yeah, that’s really cool.” Tony replied, also lifting a hand to study the water toys. ”It’s an admiral, baby.” He chuckled, hoping that Peter was mispronouncing it due to slipping further into his regression. Now that Tony had gotten a taste of baby Peter, he couldn’t wait for more.

“Yeah, that!” Peter nodded, taking the ducks back once they were handed to him. “They… they’re supposed to be enemies, ‘n fight all the time, but… they’re friends.” He said, not taking his eyes off of the toys as he placed them back on the water and pushed them about. “The sea people don’t like pirates, but this one likes this one.” He gestured to them, looking back at Tony to see if he was following the conversation.

”Almost like a Romeo and Juliet?” Tony asked, feeling his heart swell at the sight of Peter playing with toys. It reminded him of the times at the facility where they would do age regression therapy together. It seemed like ages ago and yet Tony remembered it so vividly.

“Yeah! The others can’t know they’re friends, is against the rules.” Peter chirped, turning back and creating little waves in the water with his fingertips so that the ducks bobbed a little more actively. He picked up the pirate duck and leaned back even further so that he was resting nearly all his weight on Tony rather than being sat up in the tub. “My toys are always friends.”

”That’s very nice.” Tony mused, moving his hand up to rub at Peter’s chest and still kept his cheek resting on the boy’s head. ”So, does the pirate ducky search for treasures and the admiral has to stop them from stealing the treasures? But, then when they’re together just the two of them, they’re friends?” Tony asked, trying to understand Peter’s story with his ducks. Peter nodded at Tony’s idea. 

“The pirate ducky likes to steal from people, cos... cos he’s a pirate. He’s a nice pirate though, he doesn’t make them walk the plank or anything. Then the a-a-ad-meer-al ducky tries to stop him, but when they’re together they don’t fight.” He explained, holding up the ducks to make his point. He dropped them back into the water and squeaked when they caused a few droplets of water to splash in his direction.

”Sounds complicated.” Tony hummed, thinking about what Peter was explaining. He couldn’t help but notice the similarities with them hiding their relationship from everyone at the facility. It was all a bit ironic, but also upsetting, so Tony didn’t bring it up now since Peter was aged down. ”Are they just friends then? What do they do together?” He asked further.

“They talk, ‘n... ‘n play games. They like swimming, cos they’re ducks. They just like hanging out together.” Peter hummed, lifting the toys up and dropping them back into the water to make another splash. “I really like ducks. They’re cool, cos... cos they can do all three things. They can swim, ‘n fly, ‘n walk.” He babbled, counting each action on his fingers. “I can swim, but not as good as a duck.”

Tony laughed at that and squeezed Peter a bit tighter in his arms again. After talking some more about ducks and other silly things, Tony and Peter washed up, or Tony washed Peter, before climbing out of the bath that was starting to turn cool rather than warm. 

”There, all squeaky clean.” Tony announced after toweling Peter’s hair dry. The man was already dressed in his pyjamas, but Peter still wasn’t dressed yet.

By the end of the bath, Peter felt different. After not being regressed for so long, and then suddenly experiencing it intensely over the course of two evenings, ageing back up left him slightly dazed and self-conscious. That feeling only got stronger as he realised that Tony was now dressed but Peter was still completely naked, and so he shielded himself from Tony’s view awkwardly once his hair had been dried. “Th-Thanks.” He said quietly, his voice distant as his thoughts were elsewhere. Tony noticed the change in Peter’s tone right away, but didn’t mention it. Changes in headspace was to be expected and Tony went along with it with a smile still. 

”Do you want me to dress you, buddy?” He asked, picking up the folded pyjamas from the counter.

“Hm? No, no, ‘s… ‘s okay. I’ll do it.” Peter mumbled, quickly taking the pyjamas from Tony and putting the pyjama bottoms on first. Once those were on, he calmed down a little bit, but was still nervous as he put his NASA t-shirt back on. “Thanks for the… bath.” He said, a little unsure of what to do next. When Tony smiled at him he blushed a light pink, and his eyes darted this way and that.

”You’re very welcome, Pete.” Tony smiled, turning his back to Peter to give him so privacy and cleaned up around the bathtub. Once he was done, he found that Peter was properly dressed, but still sat on top of the toilet seat. ”You wanna get cozy in bed?”

“I- Yeah, yeah.” Peter nodded, getting up off the toilet and heading out of the bathroom. He shuffled back onto the bed, but no made effort to get cozy like Tony suggested. Instead, he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He had completely zoned out by this point, all sorts of thoughts rocketing through his mind. After tidying up some more and organising some laundry that they would have to do the next day, Tony headed out of the bathroom and found Peter on the bed, looking a bit lost and... sad? 

”Hey, what’s up?” Tony asked gently, climbing up on the bed to sit next to the boy. Peter looked over when Tony approached him, and moved across the mattress to make space for him. 

“I- I dunno. ‘m just… this has been so much fun, but… ‘m just scared about the future, you know? Like…” He sighed, taking a second to compose himself. “Someone I knew once asked how I was ever gonna… get a proper job ‘n all that stuff with my attachment problems, and… I know it was mean of them to say but it’s something I worry about.”

”Hmm.” Tony hummed thoughtfully. ”Do you think you’d be able to work sometime?” He asked, hating the fact that they would have to settle somewhere eventually and find jobs to get by.

“I- I think so? I had a job at my local grocery store, so I know I could do it if I wanted to.” Peter said, letting go of his knees and falling back so that he was now spread flat against the bed. “It’s just… I dunno. It’s dumb.” He mumbled. Tony smiled at hearing that Peter had gotten a job. It was a clear sign that the boy had recovered a lot. 

”What?” Tony asked, moving to lay next to Peter, but stayed a little upright by resting on his elbow.

“Worrying about this stuff. It’s dumb. I mean- I know I can do it, I’m just scared of what will happen if… if things get bad again, you know? And… I don’t want you worrying about me if it does. Or at all, really.” Peter rambled, his hands shooting in various wild gestures as he talked.

”Based on what you’ve told me so far, you’ve recovered a lot.” Tony said, lifting a hand to stroke at Peter’s cheek. ”I absolutely think you can work and be more grown up.” He added, but then paused a little. ”But, I know there are ups and downs... I- finding a psychiatrist for you won’t be easy, but I mean- I know you don’t want me to treat you as a patient, but I could if you need me to.” Tony offered with a little smile. Peter shook his head at that. 

“No, I- I couldn’t ask you to do that. You… I just want you as my Daddy.” He said quietly, catching Tony’s hand when it was against his face and nuzzling into it. He closed his eyes too as he enjoyed the feeling of Tony’s warm palm against his cheek.

”As you wish, baby.” Tony smiled, leaning down to plant a kiss on Peter’s lips. ”But, I would do it if you want me to. I don’t want you to get worse again.” He admitted. The boy nodded, but before he could say anything else he could feel a familiar feeling behind his eyes. He hiccuped gently as he tried hopelessly to blink away the tears that were forming. 

“Awh, crap… Nooooo…” He whined weakly, covering his face in his hands.

”Hey, hey, what’s up? Why the tears?” Tony asked gently, although with some urgency in his voice. The man kept his hands on the boy, one on his head and the other on his cheek.

“’s just… you’re so /nice/!” Peter huffed, still trying to wipe the tears off of his face. “You’re just being so nice a-a-and caring, a-and you don’t have to do this stuff but you do anyway, and would it kill you to be mean every once in a while?!” He whined, punching the mattress lightly in frustration. Tony chuckled softly at Peter’s outcry and stroked his curls. 

”I don’t do mean, baby, I’m a caregiver first and foremost.” He explained, although he really had to find his rough side while in prison to survive all the abuse and poor treatment from both fellow inmates and staff. He hated thinking about all that and focused on Peter again. ”I’m serious, babe, if you need me to be your doctor now and then, even though I don’t have a license, then I will do it, okay?” Peter sighed, relaxing against the bed as his hair was stroked. 

"M'kay, I'll... I'll think about it." He nodded gently, before rolling over so that he was even closer to Tony than before. "You'll still be my Daddy, though, right? Even if you're my doctor sometimes?" He asked nervously, looking up at Tony as the man rested on his elbow above him.

”Of course, baby boy.” Tony smiled, surprised that Peter was even asking such a question. ”In the past it might have been doctor first, then Daddy, but not anymore, okay? Now it’s Daddy first, and doctor only when you need to talk.” He explained, stroking Peter’s cheek gently.

"Mhm." Peter nodded. He turned his head to press soft kisses against Tony's palm, with his eyes half-lidded. He lifted one arm up towards the ceiling, to indicate that he wanted cuddles, while moving even closer so that they were now chest to chest despite Tony being propped up on his elbow.

”Is there anything else that you’re worried about?” Tony asked as he slid down on the bed, moving his arms so that Peter was resting his head on his upper arm and lay the other on the boy’s middle. He also moved his legs so that they were tangled up with Peter’s. The boy thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. 

"Nuh uh." He muttered, relaxing greatly now that Tony was in his embrace. Having his head rested on Tony's arm meant that he could scoot closer and press kisses to the mans neck, and he wasted no time in doing so. "It was just that, Daddy." He said, curling up in Tony's arms.

”Okay.” Tony smiled, letting his eyes fall shut when Peter began kissing his neck. The boy was clearly slipping again. After all, what he had admitted about his worries was not easy to do in his littlespace, and Tony admired Peter for his strength to forcefully age up like that. ”But, if you have something else you need to talk about then don’t hesitate to do so, okay? Daddy’s here now forever and I’ll be here to take care of you and everything else.” Tony explained.

“Forever...” Peter couldn’t help smiling at that. “I’m... I’mma take care of Daddy too. Forever ‘n ever ‘n ever.” He said, leaning back from where he was kissing Tony’s neck to look up at the man. He giggled when he saw that Tony’s eyes were closed, and poked him a couple of times to get him to open them. “Sleepy Daddy.” He laughed, his voice gradually becoming more gentle and high-pitched as he slipped back down. “I- I love you, Daddy.”

”Forever and forever.” Tony confirmed before opening his eyes. Beaming at the sight of a once more regressed Peter, Tony leaned down to kiss his forehead. But, before he snuggled up to Peter, Tony reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the pacifier. ”And I love you too, baby boy.” Tony replied, his voice soft and loving as he offered the pacifier to Peter.

Peter only hesitated for a moment before he took the pacifier from Tony and placed it in his mouth. He jostled it into place with his tongue, and once it was firmly in place he smiled around it. He finally snuggled up to his Daddy and closed his eyes, finally at peace and finally happy.

Tony felt his heart skip a beat when Peter smiled around the pacifier. The man doubted he had ever seen anything cuter. Snuggling up to his boy, Tony couldn’t help but think of their future. It wouldn’t be easy, that was for sure, but Tony had no doubts that they wouldn’t be able to face that, now that they were together. However, he had no worries as of right now, besides getting to the Grand Canyon and having the time of his life with Peter, his baby boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one last chapter left...


	100. 100

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is the beginning.  
> PLEASE READ END NOTES FOR INFO ON NEW fic 'Good Dom, Bad Sub'!

dear may,

by the time you read this, i imagine i’ll be quite far from New York. I hope to be, anyway. 

i’m not hurt, or dead, before you jump to conclusions. the truth is, this is something I’ve wanted for a while. these last few years have been difficult for me, and while i’m massively grateful for what you’ve done to support me, i’m afraid that staying in one place will only make me stagnant and i won’t be able to truly move on. New York is a beautiful place, but i don’t think i was able to call it home. 

for me, home was never a place, it was a person. i never understood why i always seemed to have this feeling of homesickness, but that feeling instantly disappeared when i met tony. meeting him for the first time was coming home for the first time, and it terrified me. you know i hated him at first, i think everyone knew that, but i only pushed him away because i never knew how to deal with the feeling of finally being home after so long. 

you always told me that i couldn’t let my mental health affect me, that i have to be the one to dictate my own future, so that’s what i’m doing. i wanted a new start somewhere, in a place where i can truly be the master of my own fate, as you always used to say. and yes, i want this new start to be with tony. i love him, i never stopped loving him even after what happened. i know you think of him as the villain in this story, but please don’t. he makes me happier than i’ve ever been before, and i can’t let that go.

so, i’m leaving. i’ve left everything in the apartment, including my phone. please don’t try to find us, because this new start is truly what i want. i know you won’t be happy at first, if at all, but at least remember that this is my decision, my attempt to move on and live my life as i want to. i’m with the man i love, and I hope you can appreciate that.

i love you to the ends of the earth.

yours,

peter

\-----

The birds they sang  
The break of day  
Start again, I hear them say  
It's so hard to just walk away  
The birds they sang  
All a choir  
Start again, a little higher  
It's a spark in a sea of grey

The sky is blue  
Dreamed that lie 'til it's true  
Then taking back the punch I threw  
My arms turn wings  
Oh, those clumsy things  
Send me up to that wonderful world  
And then, I'm up with the birds

Might have to go, where they don't know my name  
Float all over the world just to see her again  
But I won't show or feel any pain  
Even though all my armor might rust in the rain

A simple plot  
But I know, one day  
Good things are coming our way  
A simple plot  
But I know, one day  
Good things are coming our way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is it for 'It All Goes Back To Bowlby'.  
> Richie and I started this fic winter 2019 and the first chapter was put up on March 1, and here we are 6 months later with the end on September 11. I just wanted to say on behalf of us both; thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has been reading, leaving kudos, bookmarking, commenting, sending asks to our tumblrs and reblogging the promo posts. We truly appreciate it and we hope that you have enjoyed what we have created.  
> But, like I said at the start, the end is the beginning and Richie and I have another Starker fic aka 'Good Dom, Bad Sub' that is up now! Subscribe to our users to be notified or follow us on our tumblrs professional-benaddict and sunflowerstarker. We hope to see you there, lovelies.
> 
> up with the birds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUR2WOSa3ww


End file.
